Table 1

Characteristics of participants in interviews

	N=59	Per cent	Range	Median
Location in England
North West	23	39
South West	36	61
Gender of carer
Male	18	31
Female	41	69
Age of carer
All	59		44–90	72
<50	1	2
50–59	7	12
60–69	19	32
70–79	15	25
80–81	16	27
>90	1	2
Ethnicity of carer
White British	56	95
White other	2	3
Black Caribbean	1	2
Relationship to deceased
Spouse	43	73
Daughter/son	15	25
Sibling	1	2
Gender of deceased
Male	35	59
Female	24	41
Age of deceased
All			59–98	82
50–59	3	5
60–69	8	14
70–79	15	25
80–89	23	39
>90	10	17
Time cared for in the home			2 weeks—11 years	11 months
Cause of death
Cancer	37	63
COPD	1	2
Heart disease	6	10
Dementia	3	5
PD	3	5
Old age	5	8
Renal failure	1	2
Other	3	5
Occupation of carer
Modern professional	17	29
Clerical/intermediate	15	25
Senior managers	3	5
Technical/craft	2	3
Semi-routine manual	7	12
Routine manual	3	5
Middle/junior managers	5	9
Traditional professional	2	3
No paid employment	5	9
Occupation of deceased
Modern professional	13	20
Clerical/intermediate	7	12
Senior managers	1	2
Technical/craft	8	14
Semi-routine manual	5	9
Routine manual	6	10
Middle/junior managers	8	14
Traditional professional	5	9
No paid employment	6	10