Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate if the participants in psychosocial interventions for dementia caregivers are representative of the whole population of dementia patients or if some socioeconomic groups are over- or underrepresented. Design: The demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the 128 participants of a randomized controlled study on the effects of caregiver education were compared with those of all the elderly residents of the City of Zurich (n = 64,856, elderly group), of all demented patients entering a City of Zurich nursing home in a 6-month period (n = 218, NH entry group) and of all demented inhabitants evaluated during a 20-month follow-up at a community memory clinic (n = 187, memory group). Methods: Data on income and wealth were derived from official tax records. The characteristics of the different groups were compared by χ<sup>2</sup> or t tests. Results: As expected in a study on caregiver education, the demented patients were younger, more often male and married than all other study groups (p < 0.01). The participants in the psychosocial intervention had significantly (p < 0.01) higher education than all other groups; this effect is caused in part by the higher proportion of males. The NH entry group was less well educated than the elderly group (p < 0.05). The intervention group had a higher income and was wealthier than the three other groups (p < 0.01), but there was no significant difference with respect to the wealth of the memory group. The 25% poorest of the elderly group made up only about 10% of the participants in the intervention group. However, the 25% richest of the elderly group made up 42% of the intervention group. The method of recruitment for the psychosocial intervention (by media, referral of physicians and by a memory clinic) was not significantly related to any of the demographic or socioeconomic parameters. Conclusion: The lower socioeconomic strata are clearly underrepresented in psychosocial interventions.
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