Lee Smith1, Jae Il Shin2, Hans Oh3, Guillermo F López Sánchez4, Benjamin Underwood5, Louis Jacob6, Nicola Veronese7, Pinar Soysal8, Laurie Butler1, Yvonne Barnett1, Mark A Tully9, Ai Koyanagi10. 1. Cambridge Centre for Health, Performance, and Wellbeing, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. 2. Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 3. Suzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA. 4. Vision and Eye Research Institute, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address: guillermo.lopez-sanchez@aru.ac.uk. 5. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, The Gnodde Goldman Sachs Translational Neuroscience Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 6. Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Barcelona, Spain; Faculty of Medicine, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 78000 Versailles, France. 7. Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy. 8. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, 34093 Istanbul, Turkey. 9. School of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey BT15 1ED, Northern Ireland, UK. 10. Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Pg, Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There are no multi-country studies on the association between informal caregiving and anxiety from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Therefore, we investigated this relationship in a large predominantly nationally representative sample from 47 LMICs. METHODS: Cross sectional data from the World Health Survey were analyzed. Anxiety symptoms referred to severe or extreme problems with worries or anxiety in the past 30 days. Information on caregiving in the past 12 months was obtained. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, marital status, education, household size, employment, disability, and country was conducted. Data on 237,952 individuals aged ≥18 years [mean (SD) age 38.4 (16.0) years; 50.8% female] were analyzed. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, caregiving was positively associated with anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.52; 95%CI = 1.40, 1.65). Greater number of caregiving activities was associated with higher odds for anxiety symptoms dose-dependently, with the OR (95%CI) for engagement in 5 activities (vs. no caregiving) being 2.19 (1.86-2.58). CONCLUSION: Caregiving is associated with higher odds for anxiety symptoms among adults in LMICs. Given the increasing importance of informal caregivers in long-term care provision and the fact that good health of caregivers is vital to sustain this system, interventions to address mental health of caregivers in LMICs are urgently needed.
BACKGROUND: There are no multi-country studies on the association between informal caregiving and anxiety from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Therefore, we investigated this relationship in a large predominantly nationally representative sample from 47 LMICs. METHODS: Cross sectional data from the World Health Survey were analyzed. Anxiety symptoms referred to severe or extreme problems with worries or anxiety in the past 30 days. Information on caregiving in the past 12 months was obtained. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, marital status, education, household size, employment, disability, and country was conducted. Data on 237,952 individuals aged ≥18 years [mean (SD) age 38.4 (16.0) years; 50.8% female] were analyzed. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, caregiving was positively associated with anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.52; 95%CI = 1.40, 1.65). Greater number of caregiving activities was associated with higher odds for anxiety symptoms dose-dependently, with the OR (95%CI) for engagement in 5 activities (vs. no caregiving) being 2.19 (1.86-2.58). CONCLUSION: Caregiving is associated with higher odds for anxiety symptoms among adults in LMICs. Given the increasing importance of informal caregivers in long-term care provision and the fact that good health of caregivers is vital to sustain this system, interventions to address mental health of caregivers in LMICs are urgently needed.
Authors: Ángel Denche-Zamorano; Laura Muñoz-Bermejo; Jorge Carlos-Vivas; María Mendoza-Muñoz; Juan Manuel Franco-García; Jorge Rojo-Ramos; Alejandro Vega-Muñoz; Nicolás Contreras-Barraza; Sabina Barrios-Fernandez Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-04-27 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Sharon Anderson; Jasneet Parmar; Tanya L'Heureux; Bonnie Dobbs; Lesley Charles; Peter George J Tian Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-07-15 Impact factor: 4.614