Effect of family caregiver nursing education on patients with rheumatoid arthritis and its impact factors: A randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics in the intervention group and the control group

Characteristics	Total, n = 158	IG, n = 80	CG, n = 78	t	z	x2	P value
Caregiver characteristics
Age (yr), mean ± SD	47.4 ± 8.4	47.7 ± 8.6	47.0 ± 8.3	0.520			0.604
Gender, n (%)						0.933	0.334
Male	44 (27.8)	25 (31.3)	19 (24.4)
Female	114 (72.2)	55 (68.8)	59 (75.6)
Work status, n (%)						0.141	0.932
Full-time	102 (64.6)	51 (63.8)	51 (65.4)
Part-time	24 (15.2)	13 (16.3)	11 (14.1)
Unemployed	32 (20.3)	16 (20.0)	16 (20.5)
Relationship, n (%)						0.238	0.888
Son or daughter	45 (28.5)	23 (28.8)	22 (28.2)
Spouse	62 (39.2)	30 (37.5)	32 (41.0)
Others	51 (32.3)	27 (33.8)	24 (30.8)
Education duration (yr), mean (IQR)	9.0 (6.0)	9.0 (6.0)	9.0 (6.5)		-0.251		0.802
Patient characteristics
Age (yr), mean ± SD	59.2 ± 10.9	60.6 ± 10.7	57.7 ± 10.9	1.669			0.097
Gender, n (%)						0.082	0.774
Male	25 (15.8)	12 (15.0)	13 (16.7)
Female	133 (84.2)	68 (85.0)	65 (83.3)
Comorbidity, n (%)						0.118	0.732
Yes	28 (17.7)	15 (18.8)	13 (16.7)
No	130 (82.3)	65 (81.3)	65 (83.3)
Drug therapy, n (%)						0.076	0.783
DMARDs + GC	117 (74.1)	60 (75.0)	57 (73.1)
DMARDs + GC + biologics	41 (26.0)	20 (25.0)	21 (26.9)
Disease duration (yr), mean (IQR)	5.5 (6.0)	5.0 (5.0)	6.5 (4.3)		-1.816		0.069
CRP (mg/L), mean ± SD	18.00 ± 5.52	17.74 ± 5.65	18.25 ± 5.41	-0.579			0.563
ESR (mm/h), mean ± SD	35.49 ± 5.33	35.61 ± 5.29	35.36 ± 5.41	0.298			0.766
TNF-α (pg /ml), mean ± SD	43.47 ± 9.58	43.93 ± 9.04	42.99 ± 10.15	0.618			0.537
CDAI, mean ± SD	20.00 ± 7.63	19.97 ± 7.29	20.04 ± 8.01	-0.060			0.952
SDAI, mean ± SD	38.00 ± 8.70	37.71 ± 8.67	38.29 ± 8.78	-0.420			0.675
DAS28, mean ± SD	4.92 ± 1.30	4.94 ± 1.29	4.89 ± 1.33	0.251			0.802
HAQ, mean (IQR)	1.12 (0.99)	1.21 (0.99)	1.11 (0.99)		-0.442		0.659
SDS, mean ± SD	57.87 ± 5.51	57.31 ± 4.77	58.45 ± 6.15	-1.300			0.196
SAS, mean ± SD	53.82 ± 9.68	54.43 ± 8.34	53.21 ± 10.91	0.791			0.430

IG: Intervention group; CG: Control group; CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor; SDAI: Simplified disease activity index; DAS28: Disease activity score with 28-joint count; CDAI: Clinical disease activity index; HAQ: Health assessment questionnaire; SDS: Self-rating depression scale; SAS: Self-rating anxiety scale; SD: Standard deviation; IQR: Interquartile range; GC: Glucocorticoid.

Table 2 Indicators of the intervention group and the control group (mean ± SD)

Indicators	IG, n = 80				CG, n = 78
	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo
Inflammation level
CRP (mg/L)	17.74 ± 5.65	15.05 ± 4.51	10.83 ± 3.84	2.40 ± 2.00	18.25 ± 5.41	16.71 ± 4.42	15.13 ± 3.35	7.93 ± 2.77
ESR (mm/h)	35.61 ± 5.29	31.57 ± 4.81	28.03 ± 3.42	23.97 ± 3.14	35.36 ± 5.41	32.85 ± 4.58	29.81 ± 3.36	28.21 ± 2.82
TNF-α (pg/mL)	43.93 ± 9.04	38.22 ± 8.05	33.24 ± 7.98	29.61 ± 6.72	42.99 ± 10.15	41.01 ± 9.72	38.12 ± 9.14	35.56 ± 8.12
Disease activity
CDAI	19.97 ± 7.29	20.00 ± 7.25	13.90 ± 5.17	4.51 ± 1.94	20.04 ± 8.01	19.51 ± 7.95	17.94 ± 6.93	15.41 ± 5.26
SDAI	37.71 ± 8.67	35.06 ± 8.11	24.73 ± 5.99	6.91 ± 2.49	38.29 ± 8.78	36.22 ± 8.22	33.06 ± 7.03	23.34 ± 5.24
DAS28	4.94 ± 1.29	4.56 ± 1.00	4.02 ± 0.78	3.40 ± 1.00	4.89 ± 1.33	4.94 ± 1.29	4.50 ± 1.25	4.13 ± 0.93
HAQ	1.39 ± 0.64	1.04 ± 0.59	1.12 ± 0.65	0.36 ± 0.28	1.43 ± 0.70	1.24 ± 0.72	1.22 ± 0.66	0.91 ± 0.58
Mood disorder
SDS	57.31 ± 4.77	46.60 ± 5.67	37.63 ± 5.14	31.81 ± 9.82	58.45 ± 6.15	50.95 ± 6.09	51.62 ± 5.77	49.58 ± 6.13
SAS	54.43 ± 8.34	49.81 ± 7.52	40.60 ± 6.32	31.71 ± 8.84	53.21 ± 10.91	53.01 ± 10.84	49.22 ± 7.34	45.13 ± 9.39

IG: Intervention group; CG: Control group; CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor; SDAI: Simplified disease activity index; DAS28: Disease activity score with 28-joint count; CDAI: Clinical disease activity index; HAQ: Health assessment questionnaire; SDS: Self-rating depression scale; SAS: Self-rating anxiety scale.

Table 3 Indicators of the intervention group grouped by relationship (mean ± SD)

Indicators	Son or daughter, n = 23				Spouse, n = 30				Others, n = 27
	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo
CRP (mg/L)	18.90 ± 5.03	15.09 ± 4.43	9.45 ± 4.24	0.98 ± 0.85	20.07 ± 5.45	16.27 ± 4.83	12.02 ± 3.59	2.44 ± 1.93	14.18 ± 4.67	13.67 ± 3.92	10.67 ± 3.43	3.55 ± 2.07
ESR (mm/h)	36.33 ± 3.88	32.46 ± 4.77	28.28 ± 4.30	24.45 ± 3.92	38.11 ± 4.23	33.13 ± 3.97	27.76 ± 2.79	22.57 ± 2.34	32.24 ± 5.73	29.08 ± 4.85	28.10 ± 3.33	25.12 ± 2.66
TNF-α (pg /mL)	47.25 ± 9.24	40.65 ± 9.04	33.57 ± 9.39	29.91 ± 7.74	44.71 ± 7.49	37.84. ± 6.44	32.24 ± 6.15	28.84 ± 4.62	40.24 ± 9.42	36.56 ± 8.57	34.08 ± 8.65	30.22 ± 7.84

CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor.

Table 4 Indicators of the intervention group grouped by patient’s age (mean ± SD)

Indicators	Middle-aged people, n = 42				Elderly people, n = 38
	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo	Baseline	1st mo	3rd mo	6th mo
CDAI	14.48 ± 4.04	14.53 ± 4.02	10.07 ± 2.32	4.79 ± 1.85	26.03 ± 4.84	26.05 ± 4.76	18.13 ± 1.02	4.21 ± 2.00
SDAI	32.88 ± 6.19	30.14 ± 5.57	21.65 ± 4.00	7.44 ± 2.11	43.04 ± 7.89	40.49 ± 6.94	28.13 ± 6.03	6.32 ± 2.76
DAS28	4.09 ± 0.75	3.85 ± 0.72	3.64 ± 0.79	3.49 ± 1.03	5.88 ± 1.08	5.34 ± 0.58	4.44 ± 0.52	3.30 ± 0.96
HAQ	1.34 ± 0.63	1.12 ± 0.60	1.24 ± 0.66	0.33 ± 0.20	1.45 ± 0.65	0.95 ± 0.58	0.99 ± 0.62	0.39 ± 0.29
SDS	60.90 ± 3.31	48.00 ± 6.54	38.50 ± 5.57	30.45 ± 8.91	53.34 ± 2.35	45.05 ± 4.07	36.66 ± 4.49	33.32 ± 10.66
SAS	60.90 ± 4.81	55.38 ± 5.12	45.55 ± 3.60	29.71 ± 6.90	47.26 ± 4.73	43.66 ± 4.21	35.13 ± 3.52	33.92 ± 10.22

CDAI: Clinical disease activity index; SDAI: Simplified disease activity index; DAS28: Disease activity score with 28-joint count; HAQ: Health assessment questionnaire; SDS: Self-rating depression scale; SAS: Self-rating anxiety scale.