The association between informal caregiving and behavioral risk factors: a cross-sectional study

International Journal of Public Health
Sophie GottschalkChristian Brettschneider

Abstract

This study aimed to compare informal caregivers/dementia caregivers to non-caregivers regarding alcohol consumption, smoking behavior, obesity, and insufficient physical activity and to identify caregiving-related factors (caregiving intensity, length of caregiving, relationship to the care recipient, and type of caregiving task) which are associated with behavioral risk factors in caregivers/dementia caregivers. Using cross-sectional data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we performed the statistical analyses applying logistic regression models and accounted for confounding using the entropy balancing approach. For caregivers (n = 12,044), the odds of overweight/obesity and smoking were higher (OR = 1.14/1.34, p < 0.05) and the odds of binge drinking and insufficient physical activity were lower (OR = 0.86/0.83, p < 0.05) than for non-caregivers (n = 45,925). For dementia caregivers, results point in the same direction. Caregiving-related variables tend to influence the likelihood of behavioral risk factors, but depending on the kind of factor considered, in different directions. Being a caregiver is associated with risky and health-promoting behavior. However, the effects are relatively low. Future studies ...Continue Reading

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