Association Between Health Education Needs and Stroke Caregiver Injury

Objectives: Many stroke caregivers are inadequately informed about stroke and its sequelae and have little preparation for the physical demands of moving, lifting, and handling often required. Our objectives are to examine the association between health education needs and physical injury sustained as a result of activities related to the caregiving role. Method: A total of 276 caregivers of veterans who suffered an acute stroke event were surveyed about their information needs and injury status. We used multi-variate logistic regression analysis to calculate adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios for injury status. Results: Results indicate that in the adjusted model, caregivers who had increased educational needs were almost twice as likely (OR: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.74-1.94) to have incurred an injury related to caregiving activities. Conclusions: Health education interventions that provide stroke caregivers with educational materials may help reduce caregiver injuries.