Article ID: 20170103002
Aims: To clarify how stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulder, or back( in Japanese: "katakori " ) of Japanese female family caregivers affects their daily activity and to clarify the lifestyle and care situation factors affecting stiffness and pain in caregivers. Methods: Japanese female family caregivers( n＝156 ) completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding their lifestyle, health status, and care situation. Results: Sixty-one participants( 39.1%) reported that they always experience stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulder, or back. These symptoms had an overall negative effect on their daily activity. Female caregivers with these symptoms had a higher body mass index, perceived more stress, exercised less, and had a meal more irregularly than those who did not experience stiffness and pain. Concerning care situation factors, a multivariate analysis adjusting lifestyle factors demonstrated a significant positive correlation between nighttime care and all-day care. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the possibility of improving one 's lifestyle and reducing the care burden to prevent/ reduce stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulders, or back, and by extension, improve the caregiver 's quality of life. There is a need for medical workers in the nursing field, so as to direct attention to caregivers ' lifestyles, health status, and care situation.
