Health-related quality of life of caregivers. A population-based study

Francisco Gude, Maria Del Pilar Boullosa, Carmen Fernandez-Merino, Ana Isabel Castaño, Francisco Javier Formigo, Flora Miranda

Keywords: caregivers, quality of life, SF-36 questionnaire

Background:

A caregiver is that person who assists another person who needs help in caring for themselves. This labor can affect the physical, emotional or social health of the caregiver, which means, its quality of life.

Research questions:

Evaluating if being a caregiver affects the health-related quality of life, using the generic questionnaire SF-36 in a representative sample from a rural population

Method:

Cross-sectional study carried out in a randomized sample of 1512 individuals over the age of 18 from the municipality of A Estrada (Pontevedra) recruited between the years 2012 and 2015, and divided into two groups: caregivers and noncaregivers. Health related quality of life components adjusted by age and sex were compared between both groups by using additive linear regression models

Results:

Caregivers present worse scores in their physical function (median 85) with respect to non-caregivers (median 90); vitality (55 versus 60), mental health (72 vs. 76), social function (87 vs. 100) and body pain (67 vs. 70). There are no significant differences in their physical role, general health and self-perception of health. When adjusting by age and sex, only their emotional role and social function (average decrease of 6.1 and 3.8 points, respectively, with respect to non-caregivers) where significantly lower.

Conclusions:

Being an informal caregiver associates a worse perceived quality of life, only significant in its emotional role and social function. Additionally, our study allows us to recognize their sociodemographic profile and to uphold the creation of support networks for families of chronic disease patients. Further research is needed to be able to create a more vigorous information base.

Points for discussion:

Be aware of the special vulnerability that caregivers have to mental illnesses and the gender and social inequalities surrounding the sociodemographic profile of the caregiver

The need for the qualities and training that informal caregivers should have.

What tools and support instruments should we provide to caregivers to alleviate their burden?

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