Providing care to relatives with mental illness: reactions and distress among primary informal caregivers

BMC Psychiatry

Table 1 Caregiver characteristics of study sample (n = 344)

		n	%
Age group	21–34	65	18.9
	35–49	82	23.8
	50–64	157	45.6
	65 & above	40	11.6
Gender	Male	110	32.0
Gender	Female	234	68.0
Ethnicity	Chinese	198	57.6
	Malay	66	19.2
	Indian	75	21.8
	Others	5	1.5
Education	No formal & primary	52	15.1
	Secondary	148	43.0
	Vocational	20	5.8
	Pre-U/Junior College/Diploma	68	19.8
	University & above	56	16.3
Employment status	Employed	221	64.2
	Economically inactive	94	27.3
	Unemployed	29	8.4
Marital status	Single	89	25.9
	Married	223	64.8
	Divorced/Separated/Widowed	32	9.3
Monthly income (SGD)	No income	97	28.2
	Below S$2000	115	33.4
	S$2000–S$3999	79	23.0
	S$4000 and above	47	13.7
	Missing data	6	1.7
Relationship (with ref. to care recipient)	Spouse	80	23.3
	Parent	121	35.2
	Son/Daughter	89	25.9
	Sibling	37	10.8
	Others	16	4.7
	Missing data	1	0.3
Any medical condition	Yes	134	39.0
Any medical condition	No	210	61.0

ISSN: 1471-244X