Table 1 Demographic characteristics of informal caregivers categorized by patients’ cancer types (N = 382)

No

81 (21.2)

108 (28.3)

92 (24.1)

101 (26.4)

382 (100.0)

Sex

 Female

65 (80.2)

65 (60.2)

62 (67.4)

37 (36.6)

229 (59.9)

 Man

16 (19.8)

43 (39.8)

30 (32.6)

64 (63.4)

153 (40.1)

Age (years)

  < 40

7 (8.6)

10 (9.3)

4 (4.3)

11 (10.8)

32 (8.3)

 40–50

35 (43.2)

61 (56.5)

20 (21.7)

31 (30.7)

147 (38.5)

 50–60

25 (30.9)

25 (23.1)

41 (44.6)

35 (34.7)

126 (33.0)

  > 60

14 (17.3)

12 (11.1)

27 (29.3)

24 (23.8)

77 (20.2)

 Education level

 Middle school or lower

47 (58.0)

69 (63.9)

63 (68.5)

48 (47.5)

227 (59.4)

 High school or higher

34 (42.0)

39 (36.1)

29 (31.5)

53 (52.5)

155 (40.6)

Income (CNY/month)

  < 5000

22 (27.2)

33 (30.6)

37 (40.2)

38 (37.6)

130 (34.0)

 5000–10,000

42 (51.9)

48 (44.4)

27 (29.4)

42 (41.6)

159 (41.6)

  > 10,000

17 (20.9)

27 (25.0)

28 (30.4)

21 (20.8)

93 (24.4)

Relationship to patient

 Spouse

61 (75.3)

87 (80.6)

79 (85.9)

61 (60.4)

288 (75.4)

 Non-spouse

20 (24.7)

21 (19.4)

13 (14.1)

40 (39.6)

94 (24.6)

Religious beliefs

 Yes

25 (30.9)

40 (37.0)

22 (23.9)

24 (23.8)

111 (29.1)

 None

56 (69.1)

68 (63.0)

70 (76.1)

77 (76.2)

271 (70.9)

Employment status

 Employment

29 (35.8)

34 (31.5)

24 (26.1)

59 (58.4)

146 (38.2)

 Unemployment

52 (64.2)

74 (68.5)

68 (73.9)

42 (41.6)

236 (61.8)

Months of caregiving

  < 6

40 (49.4)

19 (17.7)

16 (17.4)

33 (32.7)

108 (28.3)

 6–12

24 (29.6)

32 (29.6)

32 (34.8)

41 (40.6)

129 (33.8)

  13–24

12 (14.8)

32 (29.6)

27 (29.3)

16 (15.8)

87 (22.8)

  > 24

5 (6.2)

25 (23.1)

17 (18.5)

11 (10.9)

58 (15.1)

Combordities

 None

47 (58.0)

49 (45.4)

32 (34.8)

56 (55.4)

184 (48.2)

 One

26 (32.1)

45 (41.7)

36 (39.1)

25 (24.8)

132 (34.6)

 Two or more

8 (9.9)

14 (12.8)

24 (26.1)

20 (19.8)

66 (17.3)