[Importance of health indicators in the analysis of health effects on informal caregivers : Different indicator, different result?]

BACKGROUND: Analysis of the health of informal caregivers is gaining in importance. Research has shown negative effects of caregiving on mental health but the results regarding physical health were ambiguous. It remains unclear whether this can be traced back to the use of different health indicators.
OBJECTIVE: Do the results on the relationship between informal caregiving and health vary depending on the care setting (domestic or external) and the outcome measure?
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The relationship between informal caregiving inside and outside the domestic setting and the health of the caregiver was modelled using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, waves 1, 2, 4-6). The direction and strength of the relationship between informal caregiving and eight indicators of physical and mental health were compared both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
RESULTS: For most health indicators and in the cross-sectional as well as longitudinal models, negative health effects could be observed. While caregivers in the domestic setting reported worse health than non-caregivers, the opposite was true for caregivers outside the household. The longitudinal model revealed that both negative and positive health changes during informal caregiving were evident depending on the health indicator used.
CONCLUSION: The results confirmed health differences between caregivers inside and caregivers outside the domestic setting. For caregivers outside the household different health outcomes of caregiving were found depending on the chosen health indicator. This underlines that the chosen health indicator as well as the care population under study substantially affect the results of the analysis and the subsequent conclusions.