School of Public Health, Southeast University, No.87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Qual Life Res. 2024 Jul;33(7):1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11136-024-03659-3. Epub 2024 Apr 21.
Given the escalating demand for care services, understanding the impact of informal caregiving, providing unpaid care for family members, on own health is essential. This study longitudinally analyzed the association of caregiving (and different caregiver types) with mental, physical, and self-rated health. Urban-rural, gender, and employment heterogeneity were further investigated.
Based on three-wave data (2011, 2013, and 2018) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we used growth curve models to assess the impact of informal caregiving (providing care to family members) and caregiver types (caregivers to grandchildren, parents, spouses, or multiple family members) on three health outcomes (depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and activities of daily living limitations).
Our study included 13,377 individuals. Results showed a negative correlation of caregiving with mental, physical, and self-rated health. Compared to noncaregivers, spousal caregivers and multiple caregivers were both associated with worsening mental, self-rated, and physical health. In contrast, adult child caregivers were only negatively associated with mental health, and grandparent caregiving did not significantly affect any health outcomes. Further heterogeneity analysis showed that gender did not moderate the relationship between caregiving and health, whereas the negative association between caregiving and health was more pronounced among the rural population and those employed in agriculture.
Findings from the present study suggest that caregiving is detrimental to health, and recommend considering caregiver type when examining caregiving and health. These findings have vital implications for policymakers in addressing the challenges of structuring and implementing a sustainable informal care system.
鉴于对护理服务的需求不断增加，了解家庭成员提供无偿护理对自身健康的影响至关重要。本研究从纵向角度分析了护理（以及不同类型的护理人员）对心理健康、身体健康和自我健康评估的影响。此外，还进一步探讨了城乡差异、性别差异和就业差异。
基于中国健康与退休纵向研究的三波数据（2011 年、2013 年和 2018 年），我们使用增长曲线模型评估了非正式护理（为家庭成员提供护理）和护理人员类型（照顾孙子/女、父母、配偶或多个家庭成员）对三种健康结果（抑郁症状、自我健康评估和日常生活活动受限）的影响。
本研究共纳入了 13377 人。结果表明，护理与心理健康、身体健康和自我健康评估呈负相关。与非护理人员相比，配偶护理人员和多成员护理人员均与心理健康、自我健康评估和身体健康恶化相关。相比之下，成年子女护理人员仅与心理健康呈负相关，而照顾孙辈的护理与任何健康结果均无显著关联。进一步的异质性分析表明，性别并未调节护理与健康之间的关系，而护理与健康之间的负面关系在农村人口和农业就业人口中更为明显。
本研究结果表明，护理对健康有害，并建议在考察护理与健康的关系时考虑护理人员的类型。这些发现对于政策制定者在构建和实施可持续的非正式护理系统方面具有重要意义。
