Guo Shaolingyun, Chen Qiqi, Chan Ko Ling
Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom District, Hong Kong (City), China.
BMC Public Health. 2025 May 30;25(1):2008. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23307-w.
Health issues and life satisfaction among family caregivers have attracted significant public and scholarly attention, but research on socio-demographic and social contextual factors contributing to family caregivers' burdens remains limited in scope. This study aims to assess the factors associated with subjective health, mental health and life satisfaction among family caregivers based on a representative community sample of Hong Kong families.
The analysis was performed using the Family Survey, a territory-wide household survey conducted in Hong Kong. The data for the current study included 1,647 family members in either nuclear families or extended households. A three-phase multivariate regression analysis was carried out to investigate the associations between a variety of social contextual factors and physical health, mental health, as well as life satisfaction.
Results show that female caregivers experience significant psychological health burdens, older caregivers face physical health burdens, unemployment impacts overall life satisfaction, and lower monthly income and smaller living spaces contribute significantly to physical health and life satisfaction. Additionally, primary caregiving roles are associated with lower life satisfaction, while a higher level of perceived social support leads to better health and a higher level of life satisfaction. No significant relationship was found between caregiving duties and constraints on accessing social services for assistance.
The study highlights the importance of enhancing social support and economic assistance for caregivers, particularly for women and the elderly, to alleviate psychological and physical burdens. Future services should focus on improving accessibility to social service resources and developing targeted programs to address these specific needs.
家庭照顾者的健康问题和生活满意度已引起公众和学术界的广泛关注，但关于社会人口学和社会背景因素对家庭照顾者负担影响的研究范围仍然有限。本研究旨在基于香港家庭具有代表性的社区样本，评估与家庭照顾者主观健康、心理健康和生活满意度相关的因素。
分析使用了香港全港性的家庭调查数据。本研究数据包括1647名核心家庭或大家庭中的家庭成员。进行了三阶段多变量回归分析，以研究各种社会背景因素与身体健康、心理健康以及生活满意度之间的关联。
结果显示，女性照顾者承受着显著的心理健康负担，年长的照顾者面临身体健康负担，失业影响整体生活满意度，较低的月收入和较小的居住空间对身体健康和生活满意度有显著影响。此外，主要照顾角色与较低的生活满意度相关，而较高的社会支持感知水平会带来更好的健康状况和更高的生活满意度。在照顾职责与获取社会服务援助的限制之间未发现显著关系。
该研究强调了加强对照顾者，特别是对女性和老年人的社会支持和经济援助以减轻心理和身体负担的重要性。未来的服务应侧重于提高社会服务资源的可及性，并制定针对性方案以满足这些特定需求。
