Table 1 Participant characteristics overall and by hardship status
All participants (n=247) | Hardship (n=140) | No hardship (n=107) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean age (years) | 59 (SD:15) | 56 (SD:14) | 62 (SD:15) | 0.001 |
Gender (Females) | 107/246 (43%) | 59 (42%) | 48 (45%) | 0.71 |
Culturally and linguistically diverse | 85/246 (35%) | 54 (39%) | 31 (29%) | 0.13 |
Married / defacto | 161/247 (65%) | 92 (66%) | 69 (64%) | 0.84 |
Home ownership (yes) | 101/246 (41%) | 34 (24%) | 67 (63%) | <0.0001 |
Employment status | <0.0001 | |||
Employed, full-time | 31/245 (13%) | 12 (9%) | 19 (18%) | |
Employed, part-time (<20hrs/week) | 17/245 (7%) | 11 (8%) | 6 (6%) | |
Unemployed | 76/245 (31%) | 60 (43%) | 16 (15%) | |
Retired | 121/245 (49%) | 56 (40%) | 65 (61%) | |
Education | 0.95 | |||
None | 7/244 (3%) | 4 (3%) | 3 (3%) | |
Primary and /or secondary school | 132/244 (54%) | 74 (53%) | 58 (55%) | |
Tertiary | 105/244 (43%) | 61 (44%) | 44 (42%) | |
Income (AUD$) | 0.39 | |||
Under $379 per week | 155/247 (63%) | 88 (63%) | 67 (63%) | |
$380–$579 per week | 24/247 (10%) | 14 (10%) | 10 (9%) | |
$580–$769 per week | 18/247 (7%) | 9 (6%) | 9 (8%) | |
$770–$959 per week | 12/247 (5%) | 9 (6%) | 3 (3%) | |
>$960 per week | 14/247 (6%) | 10 (7%) | 4 (4%) | |
Don’t know/rather not answer | 24/247 (10%) | 10 (7%) | 14 (13%) | |
Co-morbidity (number) | 3/247 (SD:2) | 3 (SD:2) | 2 (SD:2) | 0.10 |
Cancer | 33/247 (13%) | 22 (16%) | 11 (10%) | 0.21 |
Diabetes | 99/247 (40%) | 53 (38%) | 46 (43%) | 0.41 |
Hypertension | 170/247 (69%) | 105 (75%) | 65 (61%) | 0.02 |
Depression | 65/247 (26%) | 41 (29%) | 24 (22%) | 0.23 |
Cardiovascular disease | 84/247 (34%) | 45 (32%) | 39 (36%) | 0.48 |
Current treatment type | 0.53 | |||
Pre-dialysis | 23/247 (9%) | 11 (8%) | 12 (11%) | |
Dialysis | 199/247 (81%) | 113 (81%) | 86 (80%) | |
Home | 71/199 (36%) | 43 (38%) | 28 (33%) | 0.42 |
Community location | 128/199 (64%) | 70 (62%) | 58 (67%) | |
Transplant recipient | 25% (10%) | 16 (11%) | 9 (8%) | |
Mean time on dialysis | 5.7 (SD:5.8) | 5.8 (SD:5.4) | 5.6 (SD:6.3) | 0.83 |
Mean time since diagnosis, years | 12.7 (SD:11.8) | 12.0 (SD:11.6) | 13.7 (SD:12.2) | 0.30 |
Quality of life♦, EQ5D[15] | 0.64 (SD:0.25) | 0.59 (SD:0.23) | 0.70 (SD:0.25) | <0.001 |
Pre-dialysis | 0.62 (SD:0.26) | 0.57 (SD:0.23) | 0.66 (SD:0.29) | 0.42 |
Dialysis | 0.64 (SD:0.24) | 0.59 (SD:0.23) | 0.70 (SD:0.25) | 0.002 |
Transplant | 0.66 (SD:0.26) | 0.59 (SD:0.26) | 0.77 (SD:0.23) | 0.12 |
Need assistance with ADLs | 150/247 (61%) | 98 (70%) | 52 (49%) | <0.001 |
Family carer | 102/243 (42%) | 70 (50%) | 32 (30%) | 0.003 |
Number of social encounters (per week) | 0.01 | |||
0 | 72/247 (29%) | 42 (30%) | 30 (28%) | |
1-3 | 127/247 (51%) | 80 (57%) | 47 (44%) | |
4-6 | 23/247 (9%) | 11 (8%) | 12 (11%) | |
>6 | 25/247 (10%) | 7 (5%) | 18 (17%) | |
Catastrophic spending (out-of-pocket spending >10% of income) | 153/216 (71%) | 85 (67%) | 68 (76%) | 0.13 |
Mean out-of-pocket spending (AUD$/quarter)* | 907 (SD:1070) | 930 (SD:1123) | 876 (SD:997) | 0.18 |
Receiving any concessions and /or subsidies | 183/247 (74%) | 115 (82%) | 68 (64%) | 0.001 |
Income negatively impacted by illness | 142/247 (58%) | 105 (75%) | 37 (35%) | <0.0001 |
Private health insurance | 91/247 (37%) | 40 (29%) | 51 (48%) | 0.002 |
Able to pay AUD$2000 for something important in a week (access to financial resources) | 125/247 (51%) | 42 (30%) | 83 (78%) | <0.0001 |