Table 1 Descriptive statistics for study variables at baseline and at 12-month and 24-month follow-ups

Demographic variables

 Age in years, M (SD)

76.31 (8.49)

77.14 (8.38)

77.52 (8.45)

 Age group, n (%)

   < 65 years

131 (8.8)

89 (7.6)

66 (7.8)

  65-69

174 (11.7)

128 (10.9)

72 (8.5)

  70-74

254 (17.1)

193 (16.4)

159 (18.7)

  75-79

355 (23.7)

268 (22.7)

172 (20.2)

   ≥ 80

576 (38.7)

498 (42.4)

381 (44.8)

 Ethnicity, n (%)

  White British

1403 (95.7)

1103 (95.7)

801 (96.2)

  White other

46 (3.1)

39 (3.4)

25 (3.0)

  Other

17 (1.2)

10 (0.9)

7 (0.8)

  Missing

24

24

17

 Sex, n (%)

  Women

649 (43.6)

665 (56.6)

375 (44.1)

  Men

841 (56.4)

511 (43.4)

475 (55.9)

 Marital status, n (%)

  Single

24 (1.6)

15 (1.3)

13 (1.5)

  Married/Civil partnership/Cohabiting

1120 (75.2)

891 (75.8)

643 (75.7)

  Divorced/Separated

91 (6.1)

75 (6.4)

57 (6.7)

  Widowed

255 (17.1)

195 (16.5)

137 (16.1)

 Living situation, n (%)

  Living alone

279 (18.7)

199 (16.9)

134 (15.8)

  Live with spouse/partner

1127 (75.7)

887 (75.7)

641 (75.5)

  Live with other

82 (5.6)

66 (5.6)

45 (5.3)

  Living in residential care

0 (0)

23 (2.0)

29 (3.4)

  Missing/unclassifiable, n

2

1

1

 Dementia type, n (%)

  Alzheimer’s disease

832 (55.8)

658 (56.0)

488 (57.4)

  Vascular dementia

161 (10.8)

115 (9.8)

82 (9.7)

  Mixed (Alzheimer’s and vascular)

313 (21.0)

263 (22.4)

185 (21.7)

  Frontotemporal dementia

53 (3.6)

39 (3.3)

31 (3.7)

  Parkinson’s disease dementia

42 (2.8)

33 (2.8)

17 (2.0)

  Dementia with Lewy bodies

50 (3.4)

39 (3.3)

27 (3.2)

  Unspecified/other dementia

39 (2.6)

29 (2.4)

20 (2.3)

 Mini-Mental State Examination, M (SD)

23.21 (3.60)

21.60 (5.05)

20.53 (6.21)

  Missing

1

11

12

 Number of health conditions (excluding dementia), M (SD)

1.80 (1.63)

2.23 (1.80)

2.47 (1.87)

  Zero health conditions, n (%)

334 (22.7)

173 (15.3)

101 (12.5)

 One health condition, n (%)

421 (28.6)

272 (24.1)

167 (20.7)

  Two health conditions, n (%)

313 (21.3)

277 (24.5)

204 (25.3)

  Three health conditions, n (%)

203 (13.8)

180 (15.9)

132 (16.5)

  Four health conditions, n (%)

101 (6.9)

106 (9.4)

89 (11.1)

  Five health conditions, n (%)

55 (3.7)

54 (4.8)

57 (7.1)

  Six health conditions, n (%)

20 (1.4)

31 (2.7)

26 (3.2)

  Seven health conditions, n (%)

15 (1.0)

23 (2.1)

14 (1.7)

  Eight health conditions, n (%)

6 (0.4)

8 (0.7)

9 (1.1)

  Nine health conditions, n (%)

4 (0.2)

6 (0.5)

4 (0.5)

  Ten health conditions, n (%)

0 (0)

0 (0)

3 (0.4)

  Missing, n

18

46

44

 Social network, n (%)

  Socially isolated

412 (28.6)

328 (29.8)

239 (32.0)

  Not socially isolated

1030 (71.4)

773 (70.2)

509 (68.0)

  Missing, n

48

75

102

 Loneliness, M (SD)^a

1.34 (1.48)

1.42 (1.49)

  Missing, n

89

88

 Quality of life, M (SD)

36.84 (5.93)

36.99 (5.87)

36.94 (5.63)

  Missing, n

156

140

136

 Well-being, M (SD)

61.01 (20.52)

60.92 (20.65)

61.28 (20.96)

  Missing, n

23

55

70