Table 5 Association of caregiver and patient characteristics with outpatient medical follow-up (specialist outpatient care) 4–12 months post-stroke
Variable | Reference category | SOC visits (4 - 12 months) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IRR (95% CI) | P-value | aIRRa (95% CI) | P-value | ||
Caregiver factors | |||||
 Age (in years) |  | 0.997 (0.993, 1.001) | 0.176 |  |  |
 Gender | Male | 0.986 (0.863, 1.127) | 0.834 |  |  |
 Ethnicity | Non-Chinese | 1.355 (1.202, 1.527) | 0.000 |  |  |
 Marital status | Single | 1.007 (0.876, 1.157) | 0.927 |  |  |
 Caregiver relationship | Spouse |  | <0.001 |  |  |
 Adult-child |  | 1.257 (1.110, 1.423) |  |  | |
 Sibling |  | 1.282 (0.974, 1.688) |  |  | |
 Others |  | 0.823 (0.632, 1.071) |  |  | |
 Comorbid conditions | None |  | 0.966 |  |  |
  1 |  | 0.983 (0.853, 1.133) |  |  | |
  2 |  | 1.006 (0.824, 1.227) |  |  | |
  ≥3 |  | 0.950 (0.768, 1.175) |  |  | |
 Co-residing with patient | No | 1.254 (1.030, 1.527) | 0.024 | 1.576 (1.040, 2.389) | 0.032 |
 Caring for multiple care recipients | No | 0.996 (0.887, 1.118) | 0.944 |  |  |
Revised memory and behavior checklist | |||||
 Memory problems |  | 1.011 (1.002, 1.021) | 0.016 |  |  |
 Depressive behavior problems |  | 1.013 (1.002, 1.025) | 0.018 |  |  |
 Disruptive behavior problems |  | 1.017 (1.002, 1.032) | 0.024 |  |  |
Caregiver burden | |||||
 Oberst caregiving burden scale |  | 1.017 (1.013, 1.022) | <0.001 |  |  |
 Zarit burden interview |  | 1.016 (1.010, 1.023) | <0.001 |  |  |
Family conflict | |||||
 Attitude towards patient |  | 0.983 (0.971, 0.995) | 0.007 |  |  |
 Attitude towards caregiver |  | 0.984 (0.971, 0.996) | 0.012 |  |  |
Social support (instrumental) | |||||
 FDW for general help | No | 0.755 (0.660, 0.864) | <0.001 |  |  |
 FDW for stroke patient | No | 1.414 (1.216, 1.644) | <0.001 |  |  |
 Social support (perceived) |  | 0.984 (0.973, 0.995) | 0.005 |  |  |
Care management strategies | |||||
 Positive strategies |  | 1.006 (1.001, 1.011) | 0.027 |  |  |
 Negative strategies |  | 1.035 (1.024, 1.046) | <0.001 | 1.033 (1.005, 1.061) | 0.021 |
Patient factors | |||||
 Age (in years) |  | 0.995 (0.990, 1.001) | 0.101 |  |  |
 Gender | Male | 1.083 (0.963, 1.219) | 0.183 |  |  |
 Ethnicity | Non-Chinese | 1.357 (1.204, 1.530) | <0.001 |  |  |
 Marital status | Single | 0.862 (0.751, 0.990) | 0.035 |  |  |
 Ward class | Unsubsidized | 0.975 (0.794, 1.198) | 0.808 |  |  |
 CCI | 1 - 3 |  | <0.001 |  |  |
 4 - 6 |  | 1.175 (1.004, 1.375) |  |  | |
 >= 7 |  | 1.601 (1.330, 1.927) |  |  | |
 Stroke type | Non-ischemic | 0.904 (0.760, 1.075) | 0.253 |  |  |
 Recurrent stroke | No | 1.175 (1.015, 1.361) | 0.030 |  |  |
 National Institute of Health Scale | Mild (0-4) |  | <0.001 |  |  |
 Moderately severe (5-14) |  | 1.237 (1.098, 1.392) |  |  | |
 Severe (15-24) |  | 1.359 (1.075, 1.718) |  |  | |
 Modified rankin scale | No or slight disability (0-2) |  |  |  |  |
 Moderate or severe disability (3-5) |  | 1.520 (1.344, 1.719) | <0.001 | 1.564 (1.197, 2.043) | 0.001 |
 Mini-mental state examination | No cognitive impairment (24-30) |  | 0.007 |  |  |
 Mild cognitive impairment (18-23) |  | 1.078 (0.939, 1.237) |  |  | |
 Severe cognitive impairment (1-17) |  | 1.266 (1.092, 1.466) |  |  | |
 Discharge to community hospital | No | 1.475 (1.307, 1.665) | <0.001 | 1.362 (1.015, 1.826) | 0.039 |
 Centre for epidemiological studies depression scale |  | 0.996 (0.985, 1.007) | 0.445 |  |  |