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Abstract
Objective: Three-year changes in well-being were studied among family caregivers of an epidemiologically derived sample of stroke survivors from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study and compared to matched noncaregivers.
Methods: Family caregivers of REGARDS participants who experienced a stroke event completed telephone interviews assessing depressive symptoms, mental and physical health quality of life (QOL), life satisfaction, and leisure satisfaction at approximately 9, 18, 27, and 36 months after the stroke (n = 235). For each stroke caregiver, a family member of a stroke-free REGARDS participant was enrolled as a matched noncaregiving control (n = 235) and completed similar interviews.
Results: Multilevel longitudinal models found that caregivers showed poorer well-being at 9 months poststroke than controls on all measures except physical health QOL. Significant differences were sustained for 22 months after the stroke event for depressive symptoms, 31 months for mental health QOL, and 15 months for life satisfaction. For leisure satisfaction, differences were still significant at 36 months poststroke. Caregiving effects were similar across race and sex.
Conclusions: Stroke caregiving is associated with persistent psychological distress, but life satisfaction, depression, and mental health QOL became comparable to noncaregivers by 3 years after stroke. Caregiver leisure satisfaction was chronically lower than in noncaregivers. Intervention for stroke caregivers should recognize both the strains faced by caregivers and their capacity for successful coping over time.
GLOSSARY
- CARES=
- Caring for Adults Recovering from the Effects of Stroke;
- CES-D=
- Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression scale;
- LSI-Z=
- Life Satisfaction Index–Z;
- LTS=
- Leisure Time Satisfaction;
- MCS=
- Mental Component Summary;
- PCS=
- Physical Component Summary;
- QOL=
- quality of life;
- REGARDS=
- Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke;
- SDU=
- standard deviation unit
Footnotes
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or the NIH. Representatives of the funding agency have been involved in the review of the manuscript but not directly involved in the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data.
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
Editorial, page 1292
- Received June 26, 2014.
- Accepted in final form November 13, 2014.
- © 2015 American Academy of Neurology
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