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Table 1 Characteristics of the participants

From: What is the impact of one’s chronic illness on his or her spouse’s future chronic illness: a community-based prospective cohort study

 

Baseline assessment

8-year follow-up assessment

Statistics

 

All

(n = 814)

LCIBa

(n = 555)

HCIBb

(n = 259)

All

(n = 814)

LCIBc

(n = 555)

HCIBd

(n = 259)

a vs b*

c vs d*

a vs c†

b vs d†

Age, years

 Index

66.7 (4.82)

66.3 (4.79)

67.7 (4.76)

74.8 (4.82)

74.4 (4.79)

75.7 (4.76)

0.001

0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Spouse

-

-

-

73.6 (6.01)

73.4 (6.03)

73.9 (5.98)

-

0.24

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

< 0.001

0.003

< 0.001

-

-

-

-

Women

 Index

331 (40.7)

238 (42.9)

93 (35.9)

331 (40.7)

238 (42.9)

93 (35.9)

0.06

0.06

1.00

1.00

 Spouse

-

-

-

483 (59.3)

317 (57.1)

166 (64.1)

-

0.06

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

-

-

-

-

Education, years

 Index

10.3 (4.90)

10.1 (4.90)

10.8 (4.87)

10.3 (4.90)

10.1 (4.90)

10.8 (4.87)

0.04

0.04

1.00

1.00

 Spouse

-

-

-

10.0 (4.98)

9.8 (5.03)

10.5 (4.82)

-

0.04

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

0.20

0.28

0.49

-

-

-

-

Exercise, MET*min/week

 Index

2093 (3295)

2244 (3556)

1768 (2629)

1437 (2092)

1550 (2343)

1195 (1382)

0.03

0.007

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Spouse

-

-

-

1294 (1802)

1395 (1966)

1075 (1365)

-

0.007

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

0.14

0.24

0.32

-

-

-

-

CIRS, points

 Index

4.4 (2.85)

2.9 (1.55)

7.7 (2.10)

6.7 (3.35)

5.8 (2.95)

8.9 (3.16)

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Spouse

-

-

-

5.7 (3.15)

5.5 (3.06)

6.1 (3.31)

-

0.02

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

< 0.001

0.14

< 0.001

-

-

-

-

High CIRS§

 Index

259 (31.8)

0 (0.0)

259 (100.0)

491 (60.3)

268 (48.3)

223 (86.1)

< 0.001

< 0.001

 < 0.001

< 0.001

 Spouse

-

-

-

387 (47.5)

248 (44.7)

139 (53.7)

-

0.02

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

< 0.001

0.23

< 0.001

-

-

-

-

Heavy alcohol use

 Index

34 (4.2)

28 (5.0)

6 (2.3)

34 (4.2)

28 (5.0)

6 (2.3)

0.070

0.070

1.00

1.00

 Spouse

-

-

-

30 (3.7)

26 (4.7)

4 (1.5)

-

0.03

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

0.61

0.78

0.52

-

-

-

-

PSQI, points

 Index

5.8 (3.14)

5.5 (2.94)

6.5 (4.40)

6.0 (3.32)

5.9 (3.34)

6.1 (3.30)

< 0.001

0.29

0.014

0.15

 Spouse

-

-

-

6.0 (3.52)

5.8 (3.47)

6.5 (3.60)

-

0.02

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

0.70

0.79

0.29

-

-

-

-

GDS, points

 Index

8.6 (5.98)

8.0 (5.83)

10.0 (6.10)

8.1 (6.21)

7.5 (5.84)

9.4 (6.77)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.059

0.24

 Spouse

-

-

-

8.4 (6.26)

8.0 (6.0)

9.3 (6.73)

-

0.010

-

-

 p‡

-

-

-

0.37

0.17

0.78

-

-

-

-

MMSE, points

 Index

27.0 (2.64)

27.0 (2.50)

27.0 (2.92)

27.0 (2.95)

27.0 (2.85)

27.0 (3.15)

0.93

0.87

0.91

0.85

 Spouse

-

-

-

26.4 (3.30)

26.3 (3.22)

26.6 (3.46)

-

0.34

-

-

 p‡

 

-

-

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.12

-

-

-

-

  1. Continuous variables are presented as mean (standard deviation) and categorical variables as number (percentage)
  2. LCIB low cumulative illness burden (CIRS < 6), HCIB high cumulative illness burden (CIRS ≥ 6), MET Metabolic Equivalent of Task, CIRS Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, PSQI Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, GDS Geriatric Depression Scale, MMSE Mini-Mental State Examination
  3. *Student’s t-test for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables between the LCIB group and the HCIB group
  4. †Paired t-test for continuous variables and McNemar’s chi-square tests for categorical variables between the baseline and 8-year follow-up assessments within the index participants
  5. ‡Student’s t-test for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables between the index participants and the spouse participants at the 8-year follow-up assessment
  6. §CIRS score of six points or higher at the 8-year follow-up assessment
  7. Average lifetime alcohol use of greater than 21 standard units per week
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BMC Medicine

ISSN: 1741-7015

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