Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
Department of Gerontology, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
Maturitas. 2018 Mar;109:97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2018.01.002. Epub 2018 Jan 9.
Informal caregiving is associated with poorer mental and physical health. Little research has yet focused on objectively measured health risk factors, such as metabolic markers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether informal caregiving was associated with markers of metabolism in a large, representative UK longitudinal study. We also investigated whether more intensive caregiving, as indicated by more caregiving hours, was associated with a less favourable metabolic profile.
STUDY DESIGN/OUTCOME MEASURES: Using data on 9408 participants aged 16+ from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we explored the relationship between caregiving and metabolic markers (blood pressure, total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin and triglycerides). We additionally investigated the importance of caregiving intensity (number of hours spent caregiving per week). Associations between caregiving/caregiving intensity and metabolic markers were tested using gender-stratified linear regression models adjusted for age, household income, education, social class, chronic illness, number of dependent children in the household, body mass index and partnership status.
Men who were informal caregivers had higher total cholesterol levels than non-caregivers (3.25% higher, 95% CI: 0.07, 6.53). Women caregivers also had higher total cholesterol levels and women providing intensive care (over 20 h per week) had higher triglyceride levels (19.91% higher, 95% CI: 7.22, 34.10) and lower levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (8.46% lower, 95% CI: 14.51, 1.99); however, associations for women were attenuated in our final models.
Informal caregiving is associated with less favourable lipid profiles. This may be one mechanism through which informal caregiving is associated with increased disease risk. The health of informal caregivers should be a priority for public health.
非正规护理与较差的身心健康有关。很少有研究关注代谢标志物等客观测量的健康风险因素。本研究旨在调查在一项大型、代表性的英国纵向研究中，非正规护理是否与代谢标志物有关。我们还研究了更多的护理时间（每周护理时间）是否与更不利的代谢状况有关。
研究设计/结果测量：利用英国家庭纵向研究中 9408 名 16 岁以上参与者的数据，我们探讨了护理与代谢标志物（血压、总胆固醇和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇、糖化血红蛋白和甘油三酯）之间的关系。我们还研究了护理强度（每周护理时间）的重要性。使用按性别分层的线性回归模型，根据年龄、家庭收入、教育、社会阶层、慢性疾病、家庭中依赖子女的数量、体重指数和伴侣关系状态调整了护理/护理强度与代谢标志物之间的关联。
男性非正规护理者的总胆固醇水平高于非护理者（高 3.25%，95%CI：0.07，6.53）。女性护理者的总胆固醇水平也较高，每周提供超过 20 小时护理的女性的甘油三酯水平较高（高 19.91%，95%CI：7.22，34.10），高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平较低（低 8.46%，95%CI：14.51，1.99）；然而，在我们的最终模型中，女性的相关性减弱了。
非正规护理与较差的血脂谱有关。这可能是非正规护理与疾病风险增加有关的机制之一。非正规护理者的健康应该是公共卫生的优先事项。
