Health conditions in spousal caregivers of people with dementia and their relationships with stress, caregiving experiences, and social networks: longitudinal findings from the IDEAL programme

Sabatini, Serena, Martyr, Anthony, Hunt, Anna, Gamble, Laura D., Matthews, Fiona E., Thom, Jeanette M., Jones, Roy W., Allan, Louise, Knapp, Martin ORCID: 0000-0003-1427-0215, Quinn, Catherine, Victor, Christina, Pentecost, Claire, Rusted, Jennifer M., Morris, Robin G. and Clare, Linda (2024) Health conditions in spousal caregivers of people with dementia and their relationships with stress, caregiving experiences, and social networks: longitudinal findings from the IDEAL programme. BMC Geriatrics, 24 (1). ISSN 1471-2318

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Abstract

Objectives: Longitudinal evidence documenting health conditions in spousal caregivers of people with dementia and whether these influence caregivers’ outcomes is scarce. This study explores type and number of health conditions over two years in caregivers of people with dementia and subgroups based on age, sex, education, hours of care, informant-rated functional ability, neuropsychiatric symptoms, cognition of the person with dementia, and length of diagnosis in the person with dementia. It also explores whether over time the number of health conditions is associated with caregivers’ stress, positive experiences of caregiving, and social networks Methods: Longitudinal data from the IDEAL (Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life) cohort were used. Participants comprised spousal caregivers (n = 977) of people with dementia. Self-reported health conditions using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, stress, positive experiences of caregiving, and social network were assessed over two years. Mixed effect models were used Results: On average participants had 1.5 health conditions at baseline; increasing to 2.1 conditions over two years. More health conditions were reported by caregivers who were older, had no formal education, provided 10 + hours of care per day, and/or cared for a person with more neuropsychiatric symptoms at baseline. More baseline health conditions were associated with greater stress at baseline but not with stress over time.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Care Policy and Evaluation Centre Health Policy
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2024 11:21
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 04:04
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122151

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