Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of participants by treatment group

Gender

 Male

186 (40.3)

171 (38.9)

357 (39.6)

 Female

275 (59.7)

269 (61.1)

544 (60.4)

Marital status

 Single

161 (34.9)

144 (32.7)

305 (33.9)

 Married

257 (55.7)

266 (60.5)

523 (58.0)

 Separated/divorce/widow

43 (9.3)

30 (6.8)

73 (8.1)

Family status

 Joint

212 (46.0)

215 (48.9)

427 (47.4)

 Nuclear

249 (54.0)

225 (51.1)

474 (52.6)

Status of home

 Own

308 (66.8)

300 (68.2)

608 (67.5)

 Rent

153 (33.2)

140 (31.8)

293 (32.5)

Socio economic status

 Ultra lower income group (monthly earning up to PKR 15,000)

231 (50.1)

233 (53.0)

464 (51.5)

 Lower income group (monthly earning between PKR 15,001 to 32,000)

122 (26.5)

109 (24.8)

231 (25.6)

 Lower middle-income group (monthly earning PKR 32,001 and above)

108 (23.4)

98 (22.3)

206 (22.9)

Education

 No formal education

114 (24.7)

110 (25.0)

224 (24.9)

 Up to primary (1–5)

129 (28.0)

117 (26.6)

246 (27.3)

 Up to secondary (6–10)

144 (31.2)

140 (31.8)

284 (31.5)

 Up to 12 years (11–12)

70 (15.2)

68 (15.5)

138 (15.3)

 Above 12 years

4 (0.9)

5 (1.1)

9 (1.0)

Employment

 No

280 (60.7)

259 (58.9)

539 (59.8)

 Yes

181 (39.3%)

181 (41.1)

362 (40.2)

Do you have any debt?

 No

238 (51.6)

219 (49.8)

457 (50.7)

 Yes

223 (48.4)

221 (50.2)

444 (49.3)

Difficulty meeting day-to-day expenses in the past month

 No

169 (36.7)

166 (37.7%)

335 (37.2%)

 Yes

292 (63.3)

274 (62.3%)

566 (62.8%)

Slept hungry in the past month due to financial difficulties

 No

294 (63.8)

261 (59.3)

555 (61.6)

 Yes

167 (36.2)

179 (40.7)

346 (38.4)