Caregivers’ awareness regarding the care of dementia and the coping strategies among the caregivers of people with dementia: a cross-sectional study in Udupi District, Karnataka

Figure 1.

Baseline characteristics of caregivers and PLWD (N = 80)_

Baseline characteristics and category	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Age (years)
<45	45	56.2
>45	35	43.8
Gender
Male	1	1.2
Female	79	98.8
Educational background
Up to XII grade	44	55
Above XII grade	36	45
Current occupation
Homemaker	66	82.5
Private service	2	2.5
Own business	12	15
Family income per month (rupees)
Up to 30,000	46	57.5
>30,000	34	42.5
Marital status
Married	73	91.2
Unmarried	2	2.5
Widow/widower	5	6.2
Relationship to the care recipient
Wife	15	18.8
Daughters-in-law	46	57.5
Daughter	15	18.8
Son	1	1.2
Others	3	3.75
Place of living
Urban	8	10
Semi-urban	19	23.8
Rural	53	66.2
Years of caring
<4	45	56.2
>4	35	43.8
Duration of caring per day
Up to 2 h	32	40
2–4 h	48	60
Suffering from chronic illness
Yes	37	46.2
No	43	53.8
Support in giving care
Given support in caring	44	55
Not given support in caring	36	45

Correlation between knowledge and coping strategies among the caregivers of PLWD (N = 80)_

Variables	Knowledge	Coping
Knowledge	-
Coping	0.659*	-

Role of sociodemographic variables on knowledge scores and coping strategies scores (N = 80)_

Outcome	Sociodemographic variable	Mean (SD)	Median (IQR)	P-value
Hours of care	Knowledge*			<0.001
	Up to 4 h	24 (6.64)	23.5 (12)
	>4 h	16.7 (5.13)	16.0 (8)
	Coping#			<0.001
	Up to 4 h	66.9 (7.68)	67.0 (10.75)
	>4 h	56.9 (4.42)	57.5 (5.50)
Caregiver education	Knowledge			0.139
	XII and below	18.4 (5.98)	17.0 (7.25)
	Above XII grade	21.0 (7.47)	19.5 (12.50)
	Coping#			0.006
	XII and below	58.7 (5.96)	58.5 (6.50)
	Above XII grade	63.6 (8.77)	64.5 (13.50)
Chronic illness among caregivers	Knowledge			0.456
	Chronically ill	20.2 (7.18)	18.0 (8.0)
	Not chronically ill	18.9 (6.31)	18.0 (9.0)
	Coping#			<0.001
	Chronically ill	62.5 (8.01)	62.0 (12.0)
	Not chronically ill	59.1 (7.01)	58.0 (5.0)
Family income	Knowledge			0.251
	≤30,000 rupees per month	18.7 (5.94)	18.0 (8.75)
	>30,000 rupees per month	20.8 (7.69)	19.0 (11.50)
	Coping#			<0.001
	≤30,000 rupees per month	59.0 (6.68)	58.0 (10.3)
	>30,000 rupees per month	63.5 (8.31)	61.5 (12.8)
Brief COPE—Emotion-focused coping	Caregivers’ education*			<0.001
	XII and below	21.2 (3.84)	20.0 (6.0)
	Above XII grade	25.2 (5.37)	26.0 (8.0)
	Monthly income*			<0.009
	≤30,000 rupees per month	21.7 (4.30)	20.0 (7.50)
	>30,000 rupees per month	24.8 (5.37)	26.0 (8.0)
	Hours of care given per day#			<0.001
	Up to 4 h	26.9 (4.54)	28.0 (4.5)
	>4 h	20.4 (3.27)	20.0 (4.0)
	Chronic illness among caregivers*			<0.029
	Chronically ill	24.1 (4.99)	26.0 (9.0)
	Not chronically ill	21.7 (4.74)	20.0 (6.0)
Brief COPE—Problem-focused coping	Caregivers’ education*			0.004
	XII and below	10.7 (4.57)	9.50 (5.25)
	Above XII grade	14.9 (6.64)	14.0 (13.75)
	Hours of care given per day*			<0.001
	Up to 4 h	17.72 (5.78)	18.0 (8.50)
	>4 h	9.19 (2.76)	8.0 (3.25)
	Chronic illness among caregivers*			0.017
	Chronically ill	14.1 (6.11)	14.0 (10.0)
	Not chronically ill	10.9 (5.31)	9.0 (4.0)
Brief COPE—Dysfunctional coping	Caregivers’ education#			<0.001
	XII and below	26.8 (3.64)	27.0 (5.25)
	Above XII grade	23.4 (3.90)	23.0 (5.25)

Knowledge scores and coping strategies scores of the caregivers of PLWD (N = 80)_

Domain	Mean	SD	Minimum score	Maximum score
Knowledge domain scores
Causes and characteristics (0–14)	6.80	2.78	2	14
Communication and behavior (0–12)	3.85	2.49	0	10
Care considerations (0–12)	4.34	2.31	0	10
Risk and health promotion (0–12)	4.60	2.67	0	12
Overall knowledge scores (0–50)	19.59	6.77	10	36
Coping strategies scores	23	4.99	16	34
Emotion-focused coping   (10–40)
Problem-focused coping (6–24)	12.60	5.94	6	24
Dysfunctional coping (12–48)	25.30	4.10	18	33
Total scores (28–112)	60.90	7.70	48	80

Baseline characteristics of PLWD (N = 80)_

Baseline characteristics and category	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Age (years)
<70	23	28.8
>70	57	71.2
Gender
Women	48	60
Men	32	40
Years of dementia
<5	62	77.5
>5	18	22.5
Type of dementia
Alzheimer’s disease	39	48.8
Vascular dementia	3	3.8
Fronto-temporal lobe dementia	1	1.2
Alcoholic dementia	3	3.8
Moderate dementia	8	10
Advanced dementia	14	17.5
Others	12	15
Habits
Alcohol consumption	16	20
Tobacco chewing	5	6.2
Smoking	14	17.5
History of past surgeries
Past surgeries	22	27.5
Head injury	5	6.2