Cairns Deborah, Brown Jayne, Tolson Debbie, Darbyshire Chris
Brunel University, School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Uxbridge, UK.
J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2014 Sep;27(5):471-80. doi: 10.1111/jar.12071. Epub 2013 Sep 13.
The negative health impacts of prolonged caregiving are widely reported. However, there is a paucity of evidence concerning the impacts of a lifetime of caring on older parents of offspring with learning disabilities.
An exploratory postal survey including the Medical Outcome Study (Short Form) 36 version 2 (SF-36v2) was completed by 100 older parent carers. The reported survey is part of a larger mixed method study including in-depth interviews.
The majority of respondents (n = 91) reported caring for 50 h or more per week with multiple caregiving duties. While the SF-36v2 reported physical health of older parent carers to be similar to UK norms, their mental health was significantly reduced.
These important findings highlight the vulnerability of ageing parents of offspring with learning disabilities. This previously underreported situation warrants further investigation and urgent attention from health and social care agencies and professionals.
长期照料对健康的负面影响已有广泛报道。然而，关于终生照料对有学习障碍子女的老年父母的影响，证据却很少。
100名老年父母照料者完成了一项探索性邮寄调查，其中包括医学结果研究简表36健康调查（第2版）（SF - 36v2）。所报告的这项调查是一项更大规模的混合方法研究的一部分，该研究还包括深度访谈。
大多数受访者（n = 91）报告每周照料时间达50小时或更长，且承担多项照料职责。虽然SF - 36v2报告显示老年父母照料者的身体健康状况与英国标准相似，但他们的心理健康显著下降。
这些重要发现凸显了有学习障碍子女的老年父母的脆弱性。这种此前未得到充分报道的情况值得进一步调查，并需要卫生和社会护理机构及专业人员给予紧急关注。
