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Table 2 Baseline characteristics for people with dementia and informal caregivers in the LIVE@Home.Path trial

From: The impact of medication reviews by general practitioners on psychotropic drug use and behavioral and psychological symptoms in home-dwelling people with dementia: results from the multicomponent cluster randomized controlled LIVE@Home.Path trial

 

Overall sample (n=237)

Intervention group (Group 1) (n=67)

Controls (Group 2 and 3) (n=170)

P value*

n (%)

Mean (SD)/median [IQR]

n (%)

Mean (SD)/median [IQR]

n (%)

Mean (SD)/median [IQR]

Person with dementia

 Age

 

82 (7)

 

83 (7)

 

81 (7)

0.013*

 Gender, female

149 (63)

 

46 (69)

 

103 (61)

 

0.268

 Residency

      

0.657

  Living alone

102 (43)

 

32 (48)

 

70 (41)

  

  Co-residing with the reporting caregiver

111 (47)

 

29 (43)

 

82 (48)

  

  Co-residing with someone else than the reporting caregiver

20 (8)

 

5 (7)

 

15 (9)

  

 Dementia etiology

      

0.207

  Alzheimer’s disease

86 (36)

 

22 (33)

 

64 (38)

  

  Vascular dementia

7 (3)

 

0 (0)

 

7 (4)

  

  Dementia in other diseases classified elsewhere

11 (5)

 

2 (3)

 

9 (5)

  

  Unspecified dementia

131 (55)

 

42 (63)

 

89 (52)

  

 MMSE

 

21 [18, 23]

 

21 [19, 24]

 

21 [17, 23]

0.295

 FAST

 

4 [4, 4]

 

4 [4, 4.5]

 

4 [4, 4]

0.064

 GMHR

      

0.026*

  Poor health

5 (2)

 

0 (0)

 

5 (3)

  

  Fair health

74 (31)

 

30 (45)

 

44 (26)

  

  Good health

110 (48)

 

26 (39)

 

84 (49)

  

  Excellent health

40 (17)

 

9 (13)

 

31 (18)

  

 PSMS

 

10 [8, 12]

 

10 [8, 13]

 

10 [8, 11]

0.146

 IADL

 

20 [15, 25]

 

20 [15, 25]

 

20 [15, 24]

0.566

 Drugs in general

       

  Total number

221 (93)

5 [3, 7]

63 (94)

5 [4, 7]

158 (93)

5 [3, 7]

0.633#

  Regularly

219 (92)

5 [3, 7]

62 (93)

5 [3, 7]

157 (92)

5 [3, 7]

0.810#

 Psychotropic drugs

       

  Total number

159 (67)

1 [0, 1]

49 (73)

1 [1, 1]

110 (65)

1 [0, 1]

0.379#

  Regularly

150 (63)

1 [0, 1]

44 (66)

1 [0, 1]

106 (62)

1 [0, 1]

0.870#

   Antipsychotic drugs

11 (5)

 

4 (6)

 

7 (4)

  

   Anxiolytic drugs

5 (2)

 

2 (3)

 

3 (2)

  

   Hypnotic/sedative drugs

31 (13)

 

8 (12)

 

23 (14)

  

   Antidepressant drugs

31 (13)

 

8 (12)

 

23 (14)

  

   Antidementia drugs

112 (47)

 

32 (48)

 

80 (47)

  

  Regularly psychotropic drugs except for antidementia drugs

69 (29)

0 [0, 1]

20 (30)

0 [0, 1]

49 (29)

0 [0, 1]

0.970#

   Concomitant use of psychotropic drugs except for antidementia drugs

12 (5)

 

2 (3)

 

10 (6)

  

  On-demand

17 (7)

0 [0, 1]

7 (10)

0 [0, 1]

10 (6)

0 [0, 1]

0.221#

   Antipsychotic drugs

1 (0)

 

0 (0)

 

1 (1)

  

   Anxiolytic drugs

8 (3)

 

2 (3)

 

6 (4)

  

   Hypnotic/sedative drugs

9 (4)

 

6 (9)

 

3 (2)

  

   Antidepressant drugs

0 (0)

 

0 (0)

 

0 (0)

  

   Antidementia drugs

0 (0)

 

0 (0)

 

0 (0)

  

 NPI-12 total score

 

12 [4, 24]

 

15 [5, 26]

 

12 [3.5, 20]

0.166

 NPI-12 subsyndromes

       

  Psychosis

 

0 [0, 2]

 

0 [0, 2]

0 [0, 2]

 

0.745

  Hyperactive behavior

 

2 [0, 5]

 

2 [0, 8]

2 [0, 5]

 

0.579

  Mood

 

6 [1, 12]

 

7 [1, 14]

4.5 [0, 11]

 

0.134

 NPI-12 domain scores

       

  Delusions

37 (16)

0 [0, 2]

8 (12)

0 [0, 1]

29 (17)

0 [0, 2]

0.631#

  Hallucinations

16 (7)

0 [0, 0]

4 (6)

0 [0, 0]

12 (7)

0 [0, 0]

0.346#

  Agitation

18 (8)

0 [0, 1]

4 (6)

0 [0, 1]

14 (8)

0 [0, 1]

0.530#

  Depression

58 (24)

0 [0, 2]

20 (30)

1 [0, 6]

38 (22)

0 [0, 2]

0.169#

  Anxiety

42 (18)

0 [0, 2]

16 (24)

0 [0, 2]

26 (15)

0 [0, 1]

0.451#

  Euphoria

4 (2)

0 [0, 0]

0 (0)

0 [0, 0]

4 (2)

0 [0, 0]

0.718#

  Apathy

65 (27)

0 [0, 4]

23 (34)

1 [0, 6]

42 (25)

0 [0, 4]

0.133#

  Disinhibitions

19 (8)

0 [0, 1]

5 (7)

0 [0, 1]

14 (8)

0 [0, 1]

0.991#

  Irritability

47 (20)

0 [0, 2]

16 (24)

0 [0, 3]

31 (18)

0 [0, 2]

0.574#

  Aberrant motor behavior

28 (12)

0 [0, 0]

9 (13)

0 [0, 0]

19 (11)

0 [0, 0]

0.542#

  Sleep disturbances

48 (20)

0 [0, 2]

12 (18)

0 [0, 1]

36 (21)

0 [0, 2]

0.745#

  Appetite changes

65 (24)

0 [0, 3]

21 (31)

0 [0, 5]

44 (26)

0 [0, 3]

0.989#

 ≥ 1 NPI-12 domain of clinical relevance

159 (67)

 

49 (67)

 

110 (65)

 

0.252

 CSDD total score

73 (31)

5 [1, 9]

22 (35)

6 [2, 9]

51 (30)

4.5 [1, 9]

0.573#

Informal caregiver

 Age

 

66 (12)

 

67 (13)

 

66 (12)

0.749

 Gender, Female

152 (64)

 

44 (66)

 

108 (64)

 

0.816

 Kinship to the person with dementia

      

0.765

  Spouse

103 (43)

 

27 (40)

 

76 (45)

  

  Child

116 (49)

 

36 (54)

 

80 (47)

  

  Other

13 (5)

 

3 (4)

 

10 (6)

  
  1. n number of participants completing the first 6-month period, SD standard deviation, IQR interquartile range, P two-tailed P value, generated by Pearson’s chi-square, unequal variances t-test, or Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, regarded significant if <0.05 and marked *, #P value of comparison of non-normal or normal data when categorical data also is reported. MMSE Mini-Mental Status Examination, range 0–30, a lower score indicates greater impairment; FAST Functional Assessment Staging, range 1–7, a higher score indicates lesser functioning; GMHR General Medical Health Rating Scale; PSMS Physical Self-Maintenance Scale, range 6–30, a higher score indicates higher dependency; IADL Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, range 8–31, higher score indicates higher dependency. Drugs were classified by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Index; psychotropic drugs included antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics/sedatives, antidepressants, and antidementia drugs. NPI-12 Neuropsychiatric Inventory, total score ranges 0–144, psychosis subsyndrome (delusions and hallucinations) ranges 0–24, hyperactive behavior (agitation, euphoria, irritation, disinhibition, aberrant motor behavior) ranges 0–60, mood (depression, apathy, sleep disturbances, and appetite changes) ranges 0–48, each domain ranges 0–12 with domain scores ≥4 indicating symptoms of clinical relevance; CSDD Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, total score ranges 0–38 and ≥8 indicate depressive symptoms of clinical relevance