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Health-related quality of life in Spanish informal caregivers: gender differences and support received

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Abstract

Purpose

We analyzed gender differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associated factors between informal male and female caregivers in Spain. It is important because of growing rates of dependent people and dwindling public resources.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 610 informal caregivers (265 male and 345 female) using an ad hoc structured questionnaire. We performed a descriptive analysis and used multivariate logistic regression to analyze the risk of poor HRQoL, measured with the EQ-5D-5L, according to caregiver sex, sociodemographic characteristics of caregivers and dependents, caregiving circumstances, and support received.

Results

Male caregivers were older than women were, and cared more often for their partners. More women used family caregiving allowance (FCA), respite care services, and counseling services, while more men used paid help, home help, and other forms of instrumental help. Women had worse HRQoL than men, particularly in the pain/discomfort dimension. In addition to older age and poor previous health, caring for a partner (OR = 2.379), for a person with major dependence (OR = 1.917), low social class (OR = 1.634), and low social support (OR = 2.311) were factors associated with poor HRQoL. Receiving FCA was associated with better HRQoL (OR = 0.319). Controlling for all these variables, women had 131% more odds than men to have poor HRQoL.

Conclusions

Male and female caregivers in Spain differ in received support and how their HRQoL is affected. These differences are important to design interventions to promote more equitable sharing of care responsibilities and better caregiver health.

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Acknowledgements

This project would not have been possible without the funding received from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the European Regional Development Fund (PI12/00498). We thank everyone who participated in the project, Ricardo Ocaña and Anaïs Corma for helping with the analysis, and in particular all the caregivers who generously shared their experiences and time with us.

Funding

This project has received funding from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the European Regional Development Fund (PI12/00498).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública, Granada, Spain

    María del Río Lozano & María del Mar García-Calvente

  2. Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada ibs.GRANADA, Granada, Spain

    María del Río Lozano & María del Mar García-Calvente

  3. Distrito Sanitario Granada – Metropolitano, Granada, Spain

    Jesús Calle-Romero

  4. Unidad de Investigación de Atención Primaria-OSIS Gipuzkoa, Osakidetza, San Sebastián, Spain

    Mónica Machón-Sobrado

  5. Red de Investigación en Servicios de Salud en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), Bilbao, Spain

    Mónica Machón-Sobrado

  6. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biodonostia, San Sebastián, Spain

    Mónica Machón-Sobrado & Isabel Larrañaga-Padilla

  7. Delegación Territorial de Gipuzkoa del Departamento de Salud, Gobierno Vasco, Spain

    Isabel Larrañaga-Padilla

Authors
  1. María del Río Lozano
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  2. María del Mar García-Calvente
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  3. Jesús Calle-Romero
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Correspondence to María del Mar García-Calvente.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. The article involves human participants. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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del Río Lozano, M., García-Calvente, M., Calle-Romero, J. et al. Health-related quality of life in Spanish informal caregivers: gender differences and support received. Qual Life Res 26, 3227–3238 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1678-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1678-2

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