Physical and mental health of family caregivers

Abstract

In this study, the aim was to clarify the physical and mental health of family caregivers. The subjects were couples aged 65 years or older living together, with 7 spouses who cared for their husbands (caregiving group) and 15 spouses who did not (control group). The presence and daily care hours of caregiving were surveyed. The psychological indices used were the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 8-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-8) and the short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (J-ZBI_8). The physiological indices used were salivary cortisol, salivary DHEA-S, and urine biopyrrin. Comparison of the two groups showed that the SF-8_Mental Component Summary (MCS) score was significantly lower in the caregiving group than in the control group, and biopyrrin values were significantly higher in caregivers with long daily care hours than in caregivers with short daily care hours. In the association between psychological and physiological indices of the caregiving group, all items that showed significant correlation were related to caregiving. Subjects providing care “almost all day long” had high biopyrrin levels, suggesting a stressful situation.