Does becoming an informal caregiver make your health worse? A longitudinal analysis across Europe.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether becoming an informal caregiver in Europe has a significant effect on health status, compared with non-informal caregivers, distinguishing by place of residence (in or outside the home of the care receivers) and country. And to determine whether there is an adaptation effect after the passage of time.

METHODS

The Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (2004-2017) was used. Propensity score matching was applied to analyse the differences in the health status of people who became informal carers between different periods and those who did not. We considered short-term (2-3 years after the shock) and medium-term effects (4-5 years).

RESULTS

In the short term, the probability of those who became informal caregivers being depressed was 3.7% points (p.p.) higher than among their counterparts, being higher among those who lived in the care recipients' homes (12.8 p.p.) and those providing care outside and at home (12.9 p.p.). Significant differences in the probability of being depressed were also observed by country (Southern and Eastern Europe), and in countries with low expenditure on long-term care (LTC). Those effects remained in the medium term. No significant effects were found in cancer, stroke, heart attack and diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

The results might help to concentrate a major effort of any policy in the field of mental health on the period immediately after the negative shock, especially for those caregivers who live with the care receiver, for those in Southern and Eastern Europe and in countries with low expenditure on LTC.