Table 1 Baseline study population characteristics

Age CG (40–88)

63.2 (±11.4)

73.3 (± 6.8)

55.4 (± 7.3)

.000

Female CG (N, %)

243 (68%)

90 (58%)

153 (76%)

.001

 - Spousal CG

154 (43%)

 - Adult-child CG

202 (57%)

Informal support available (N, %)

124 (35%)

41 (27%)

83 (41%)

.005

Institutionalized CR (N, %)

140 (39%)

14 (9%)

126 (62%)

.000

Self-rated health CG (0–3)

1.2 (±1.0)

.9 (±.9)

1.3 (±1.0)

.000

 - Household care tasks (0–84)

4.0 (0–12)

12.0 (4–21)

1.5 (0–4)

.000

 - Personal care tasks (0–70)

0.0 (0–1)

0.0 (0–4)

0.0 (0–0)

.000

 - Practical care tasks (0–56)

2.0 (1–5)

3.0 (1–10)

2.0 (1–4)

.079

 - Multimorbidity (0–12)

3.4 (± 2.0)

3.0 (± 1.8)

3.6 (± 2.0)

.002

 - Functional limitations (0–15)

6.1 (± 4.1)

4.9 (± 4.2)

7.1 (± 3.9)

.000

  - No problems

157 (44%)

74 (48%)

83 (41%)

.040

  - Some problems

159 (45%)

70 (46%)

89 (44%)

  - Severe problems

40 (11%)

10 (7%)

30 (15%)

 - Overall subjective burden (0–10)

3.9 (±1.7)

4.4 (± 1.5)

3.6 (± 1.7)

.000

 - Fulfilment (a lot)

208 (58%)

90 (58%)

118 (58%)

.996

 - Relational problems (some/a lot)

126 (35%)

57 (37%)

69 (34%)

.577

 - Mental health problems (some/a lot)

149 (42%)

77 (50%)

72 (36%)

.007

 - Daily activities problems (some/a lot)

158 (44%)

78 (51%)

80 (40%)

.038

 - Financial problems (some/a lot)

22 (6%)

13 (8%)

9 (5%)

.122

 - Perceived social support (some/a lot)

229 (64%)

89 (58%)

140 (69%)

.025

 - Physical health problems (some/a lot)

177 (50%)

98 (64%)

79 (39%)

.000