Boswell Emma Kathryn, Brown Monique J, Donelle Lorie, Yell Nicholas, Farrell Taryn, Hung Peiyin, Crouch Elizabeth
University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
J Rural Health. 2025 Mar;41(2):e70039. doi: 10.1111/jrh.70039.
An updated, nationally representative examination of rural-urban differences in the experiences, health, and well-being of caregivers is needed; previous research on this topic uses older data or has limited generalizability. This study examines rural-urban differences in the characteristics, experiences, and health of caregivers.
The 2021-2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 44,274 unpaid caregivers) was used, with rurality defined according to the 2013 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Urban-Rural Classification Scheme. Chi-square tests compared rural-urban differences in these caregivers' characteristics, including demographic factors, caregiving intensity (e.g., weekly hours spent caregiving, reason for caregiving, past-month ADL/IADL assistance), caregiver's health (e.g., general health status and past month physical health, mental health, and limited activity), and caregiver's health behavior (chronic illness, smoking status, binge drinking, and annual checkups).
Compared to urban caregivers, rural caregivers were more likely to have at least one chronic condition (58.3% vs. 53.2%; p < 0.0001), be obese (42.9% vs. 37.5%; p < 0.0001), be a smoker (24.2% vs. 15.5%; p < 0.0001), and less likely to be a binge drinker (12.7% vs. 15.3%; p = 0.003). Compared to urban caregivers, rural caregivers were more likely to report their general health status as fair/poor (20.3% vs. 17.0%, p = 0.0003) and were more likely to report 14 or more days of poor physical health in the past month (15.6% vs. 12.0%, p < 0.0001).
Understanding geographic disparities in the experiences and context of unpaid caregiving is needed to improve their overall well-being and health. Future research will be necessary to determine factors associated with these outcomes.
需要对城乡照料者的经历、健康状况和幸福感差异进行一次更新的、具有全国代表性的调查；此前关于该主题的研究使用的是较旧的数据，或者普遍性有限。本研究考察了城乡照料者在特征、经历和健康方面的差异。
使用了2021 - 2022年行为危险因素监测系统（n = 44,274名无报酬照料者），农村地区根据2013年国家卫生统计中心（NCHS）城乡分类方案进行定义。卡方检验比较了这些照料者在特征方面的城乡差异，包括人口统计学因素、照料强度（例如，每周照料时长、照料原因、过去一个月的日常生活活动/工具性日常生活活动协助情况）、照料者的健康状况（例如，总体健康状况以及过去一个月的身体健康、心理健康和活动受限情况），以及照料者的健康行为（慢性病、吸烟状况‘、暴饮和年度体检）。
与城市照料者相比，农村照料者更有可能至少患有一种慢性病（58.3%对53.2%；p < 0.0001）、肥胖（42.9%对37.5%；p < 0.0001）、吸烟（24.2%对15.5%；p < 0.0001），而暴饮的可能性较小（12.7%对15.3%；p = 0.003）。与城市照料者相比，农村照料者更有可能将自己的总体健康状况报告为一般/较差（20.3%对17.0%，p = 0.0003），并且更有可能报告在过去一个月中有14天或更多天身体不佳（15.6%对12.0%，p < 0.0001）。
需要了解无报酬照料经历和背景中的地理差异，以改善他们的整体幸福感和健康状况。未来有必要开展研究以确定与这些结果相关的因素。
