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Aetiology
Older adults who reported strain when caring for a spouse with disabilities had increased mortality

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebm.5.4.128

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    (1999) JAMA 282, 2215. Schulz R, Beach SR.. Caregiving as a risk factor for mortality. The Caregiver Health Effects Study.. Dec 15;. :. –9.
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 QUESTION: Do older adults who care for a spouse with disabilities have an increased risk for mortality?

    Design

    Cohort study with mean follow up of 4.5 years (Caregiver Health Effects Study, part of the Cardiovascular Health Study).

    Setting

    4 communities in the US.

    Participants

    819 older adults (mean age 80 y, age range 66–96 y, 51% women, 90% white) who were living with their spouses. 392 were caregivers of a spouse who had difficulties with ≥1 activity of daily living or instrumental activity of daily living because of physical or health problems or problems with confusion. 427 were non-caregivers (their spouses did not have these difficulties). Participants were drawn from a larger cohort study with inclusion criteria of ≥65 years of age and plans to live in the study area for 3 years. Exclusion criteria were being wheelchair bound in …

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    Footnotes

    • Source of funding: in part, National Institutes of Health.

    • For correspondence: Dr R Schulz, Department of Psychiatry and University Center for Social & Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, 121 University Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Fax +1 412 624 4810.

    • Abstract and commentary also appear in Evidence-Based Mental Health.

    • A modified version of the abstract also appears in Evidence-Based Nursing.