Sung Pildoo, May-Ling Lee June, Chan Angelique
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
J Aging Health. 2023 Jun;35(5-6):419-429. doi: 10.1177/08982643221137939. Epub 2022 Nov 4.
This study identified distinct social isolation profiles among caregivers, each formed by varied combinations of social disconnectedness and loneliness, and examined if and how the profiles were associated with caregiver burden.
Latent class analysis and multivariable regression were applied to data from 266 caregivers of community-dwelling older Singaporeans with cognitive impairment.
Two caregiver social isolation profiles were identified: strongly connected, not lonely (86%), and moderately connected, lonely (14%). Moderately connected and lonely caregivers tended to perceive a higher level of burden than strongly connected and not lonely caregivers. Moderately connected and lonely caregivers were also more likely to be burdened by their care recipients' poor health than their connected and not lonely counterparts.
Caregivers who feel "lonely in a crowd" are vulnerable to caregiving stress and burden. Tailored interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, are needed to reduce the loneliness of moderately connected caregivers.
本研究确定了照顾者中不同的社会隔离类型，每种类型由社会脱节和孤独感的不同组合构成，并探讨这些类型是否以及如何与照顾者负担相关。
对266名照顾居住在新加坡社区的认知障碍老年人的照顾者的数据进行潜在类别分析和多变量回归分析。
确定了两种照顾者社会隔离类型：联系紧密、不孤独（86%），以及联系中等、孤独（14%）。联系中等且孤独的照顾者往往比联系紧密且不孤独的照顾者感受到更高程度的负担。联系中等且孤独的照顾者也比联系紧密且不孤独的照顾者更有可能因受照顾者健康状况不佳而负担过重。
那些“在人群中感到孤独”的照顾者容易受到照顾压力和负担的影响。需要采取针对性的干预措施，如认知行为疗法，以减轻联系中等的照顾者的孤独感。
