Spatuzzi Roberta, Giulietti Maria Velia, Romito Francesca, Reggiardo Giorgio, Genovese Carmela, Passarella Michele, Raucci Letizia, Ricciuti Marcello, Merico Fabiana, Rosati Gerardo, Attademo Luigi, Vespa Anna
Department of Mental Health, UOSD CSM Vulture-Melfese, ASP Basilicata, Potenza, Italy.
Department of Neurology, INRCA-IRCCS National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Ancona, Italy.
Palliat Support Care. 2022 Feb;20(1):38-44. doi: 10.1017/S1478951521000274.
Older people are not traditionally expected to become caregivers. For this reason, the experience of caregiving in older persons has not been explored adequately in the research on gender differences. The objective of this study was to assess the caregiver burden among older family members who care for cancer patients facing the end of their lives, in order to compare their differences according to gender (male vs. female).
This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 102 older caregivers (aged ≥65 years) of hospice patients were interviewed through the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). The sample group was divided into two gender subgroups.
Compared with male caregivers, the older female group reported significantly higher scores in the CBI-physical subscale (P = 0.028), and in the CBI, the overall score (P = 0.0399) confirmed by the generalized linear model (multivariate) evaluation that included possible predictors in the model. There were no significant differences in the other CBI subscale scores (time-dependent, developmental, social, and emotional).
Older female caregivers are at higher risk of experiencing burden and worse physical health compared with men. Further research is needed in modern palliative care to assess the role of gender differences in the experience of caregiving when the caregiver is an older person.
传统观念认为老年人不会成为照顾者。因此，在关于性别差异的研究中，未充分探讨老年人的照顾经历。本研究的目的是评估照顾临终癌症患者的老年家庭成员的照顾负担，以便比较其性别差异（男性与女性）。
这是一项横断面研究。通过照顾者负担量表（CBI）对102名临终关怀患者的老年照顾者（年龄≥65岁）进行了访谈。样本组分为两个性别亚组。
与男性照顾者相比，老年女性组在CBI身体亚量表上的得分显著更高（P = 0.028），在CBI中，通过广义线性模型（多变量）评估（该模型纳入了可能的预测因素）确认的总体得分（P = 0.0399）也是如此。在CBI的其他亚量表得分（时间依赖性、发展性、社会性和情感性）上没有显著差异。
与男性相比，老年女性照顾者承受负担的风险更高，身体健康状况更差。在现代姑息治疗中，需要进一步研究以评估当照顾者为老年人时性别差异在照顾经历中的作用。
