A new study by Serena Sabatini et al. based on longitudinal findings from the IDEAL programme, looked deeper into the effects of caregiving on the health of spousal caregivers of people living with dementia. Their aim was to dive deeper into the relationship between the development of health conditions with person characteristics (age, education, sex), levels of stress, positive care experiences of caregiving, hours of care per day, and social network seize among the caregivers of people with dementia over time. The variables were administered at three timepoints, using self-report scales. Health conditions were assessed using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, which includes conditions such as cerebrovascular diseases, dementia, diabetes, and cancer.
To analyse the data, a mixed-method approach was adapted. The pool of participants comprised 977 people from London, UK. All of them were spousal caregivers. Compared to their non-caregiving peers, the number of health conditions presented by the spousal caregivers of people living with dementia didn’t vary noticeably. On average, the caregivers presented 1.5 health conditions, with a general increase of 2.1 conditions over the course of two years. Although care partners reported relatively low levels of stress, those with more health conditions experienced greater stress at baseline. Spousal caregivers of higher age, with a lower educational background, who spent more time daily caring for their partners, showed an increased risk of developing more health conditions over time.
