Gonzalo-Ciria Laura, De Heredia-Torres Marta Pérez, Vidal-Sánchez María Isabel, López-de-la-Fuente María José, Bullón-Benito Elisa, Poveda-García Ana, Ortiz-Piña Mariana, Ruiz-Garrós María Cristina, Gascón-Catalán Ana
Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain.
Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
AIMS Public Health. 2025 Apr 11;12(2):451-469. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2025025. eCollection 2025.
Assuming the care of a dependent family member can constitute a health risk factor that significantly reduces the productivity of family caregivers, compromising their future and quality of life.
Our purpose of this study was to investigate the productivity activities that are altered in the caregivers of a dependent family member and the impact this has on their satisfaction and quality of life.
An analytical observational study was conducted for 500 caregivers of dependent family members. Sociodemographic data were collected for caregivers and their dependent family members. Carers' occupational performance and satisfaction were assessed using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), and quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization - Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref). Comparison between groups was performed using the Chi-square test for qualitative variables. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the strength and direction of linear associations between numerical variables.
Most caregivers were women (72.3%, n = 364), with an average age of 60.3 ± 13.64 years. These individuals were providing care for a family member with severe dependency (69.7%, n = 348), classified as Grade III. Up to 38.2% (n = 191) of caregivers struggled with maintaining punctuality and consistency in their paid employment, and 25.6% (n = 128) of caregivers stopped or had difficulty working. In addition, 28.4% (n = 142) of caregivers had problems with household cleaning and tidying, 20.4% (n = 102) perceived that they neglected their other family members, and 18.6% (n = 93) of caregivers encountered problems attending courses and furthering their education. Women were more affected in terms of productivity. Moreover, performance and quality of life worsened as the number of productivity activities affected increased.
Caring for a dependent family member has a considerable impact on the caregiver's productive activities, affecting their work performance, household management, and professional development, with a particularly marked impact on women. This caregiving role is also associated with a decrease in quality of life, which highlights the need for interventions to support caregivers in these areas.
照顾受抚养家庭成员可能构成一种健康风险因素，会显著降低家庭照顾者的生产力，损害他们的未来和生活质量。
本研究的目的是调查受抚养家庭成员的照顾者中发生改变的生产性活动，以及这对他们的满意度和生活质量产生的影响。
对500名受抚养家庭成员的照顾者进行了一项分析性观察研究。收集了照顾者及其受抚养家庭成员的社会人口统计学数据。使用加拿大职业表现测量量表（COPM）评估照顾者的职业表现和满意度，使用世界卫生组织生活质量量表（WHOQOL-Bref）评估生活质量。使用卡方检验对定性变量进行组间比较。使用皮尔逊相关系数评估数值变量之间线性关联的强度和方向。
大多数照顾者为女性（72.3%，n = 364），平均年龄为60.3±13.64岁。这些人在照顾严重依赖他人的家庭成员（69.7%，n = 348），属于三级。高达38.2%（n = 191）的照顾者在维持带薪工作的准时性和连贯性方面存在困难，25.6%（n = 128）的照顾者停止工作或工作有困难。此外，28.4%（n = 142）的照顾者在家庭清洁和整理方面存在问题，20.4%（n = 102）的照顾者觉得自己忽视了其他家庭成员，18.6%（n = 93）的照顾者在参加课程和继续深造方面遇到问题。在生产力方面，女性受到的影响更大。此外，随着受影响的生产性活动数量增加，表现和生活质量会恶化。
照顾受抚养家庭成员对照顾者的生产性活动有相当大的影响，影响他们的工作表现、家庭管理和职业发展，对女性的影响尤为明显。这种照顾角色还与生活质量下降有关，这凸显了在这些方面需要采取干预措施来支持照顾者。
