Table 1

Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of participants and demographic characteristics of carers, by follow-up group
PARTICIPANTS
Characteristic
 Minimal group
(n = 88)
 Intensive group
(n = 88)
 Total sample
(n = 176)
Mean age*
 79.2 (6.8)
 79.7 (8.4)
 79.5 (7.6)
Females, Males††
 55, 33 (62.5%)
 52, 36 (59.1%)
 107, 69 (60.8%)
Ethnicity††
 White: 83 (94.3%)
Mixed: 1 (1.1%)
Indian: 2 (2.3%)
Black: 2 (2.3%)
 White: 84 (95.5%)
Indian: 1 (1.1%)
Black: 3 (3.4%)
 White: 167 (94.9%)
Mixed: 1 (0.6%)
Asian or Asian British: 3 (1.7%)
Black or Black British: 3 (3.4%)
Median years of education†
 10.0 (9.0, 14.0)
 10.0 (9.0, 13.1)
 10.0 (9.0, 13.3)
Number with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia diagnosis††
 71, 17 (80.7%)
 77, 11 (87.5%)
 148, 28 (84.1%)
Evidence of vascular pathology††
 40 (45.5%)
 46 (52.3%)
 86 (48.9%)
Median MMSE score†
 22.0 (15.0, 26.0)
 23.0 (13.9, 26.0)
 22.0 (15.0, 26.0)
Mean ADAS-Cog score*
 23.2 (10.2)
 22.3 (8.9)
 22.7 (9.6)
Median carer-reported duration of dementia in years†
 3.0 (1.0, 8.1)
 3.0 (1.3, 8.0)
 3.0 (1.0, 8.0)
AChI use††
 28 (31.8%)
 30 (34.1%)
 58 (33.0%)




CARERS§
Characteristic
 Minimal group
(n = 88)
 Intensive group
(n = 88)
 Total sample
(n = 176)
Mean age*
 63.1 (14.4)
 65.2 (12.9)
 64.1 (13.7)
Females, Males††
 77, 11 (87.5%)
 75, 13 (85.2%)
 152, 24 (86.4%)
Number who are the partner of the participant††
 45 (51.1%)
 48 (54.5%)
 93 (52.8%)
Number who live-in††
 56 (63.6%)
 59 (67.0%)
 115 (65.3%)
Number who are the informal (unpaid) carer††
 83 (94.3%)
 86 (97.7%)
 169 (96.0%)

* Mean scores are reported with standard deviations.

† Median scores are reported with 10th & 90th percentiles.

†† Numbers reported with percentage of group (e.g. Ginkgo group); or percentage of females or AD sufferers respectively.

§ Two participants study carers changed during follow-up. Data is presented for the carer at the end of follow-up.

McCarney et al. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2007 7:30   doi:10.1186/1471-2288-7-30