Gender differences in spousal caregiving and unmet need for care.

This study investigated gender differences in spousal caregiving in a sample of 353 currently married people with cancer who were undergoing outpatient treatment. Results indicate that husbands were less likely than wives to help their sick spouses with household tasks, and husbands who helped were more likely to have other helpers, whereas wives tended to be sole caregivers. Wives provided approximately twice the hours of care that husbands provided. Women undergoing treatment who experienced high levels of morbidity received more hours of help with household tasks from nonspousal sources than men with comparable levels of morbidity, thus compensating for the deficit in hours of care provided by their husbands. At lower levels of morbidity, however, compensatory help to women was not sufficient to fill the gap in care. Women were more likely than men to report unmet need for assistance with household tasks, although not with personal care.