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Items Focus groups/interviews n = qq49 Survey n = 99 X2or Mann-Whitney U test3
Aus.1n = 26 Chi. 2n = 23 Aus. 1n = 31 Chi.2n = 68
Male (%) 4 (15) 6 (26) 5 (16) 23 (34) -
Female (%) 22 (85) 17 (74) 26 (84) 65 (66) -
Spouses or partners (%) 20 (77) 13 (57) 23 (74) 31 (46) -
Children or relatives (%) 6 (23) 10 (43) 8 (26) 37 (54) -
Mean age (range) 69.0 (34-83) 68.0 (47-93) 68.3 (43-84) 60.5 (29-86) P = 0.007
Mean duration in the caregiver role (range) 6.0 (2-17) 5.0 (1-16) 3.8 (1-13) 4.1 (1-14) -
Attended dementia course (%) 22 (85) 0 (0) 27 (87) 0 (0) -
Stay in the same house (%) 19 (73) 20 (87) 26 (84) 52 (77) -
Hours spent on care per day4 - - 14.2 (2-24) 19.5 (1-24) P = 0.003
Perceived financial burden (%)4 - - 14 (45) 53 (78) P = 0.003
Perceived health states (SD) - - 2.9(0.9) 3.0 (0.7) -
Mean numbers of family members assisting care (SD) - - 1.2 (1.4) 1.4 (1.3) -

  1. 1Australian cohort; 2Chinese cohort; 3the tests were undertaken for survey data only; 4 Objective burden: Level 1 analyses in Giddens’ Structuration Theory Framework; see Additional file 2 that shows the integration of the objective burden into the findings.