Head, Jenny

The objective was to investigate the relationship between various aspects of informal caregiving and diurnal patterns of salivary cortisol, with special attention to the moderating effect of sex and work status. The study population was composed of 3727 men and women from the British Whitehall II study. Salivary cortisol was measured six times during a weekday. Aspects of caregiving included the relationship of caregiver to recipient, weekly hours of caregiving, and length of caregiving.

Background: Little is known on the association between weekly hours of informal caregiving and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective was to investigate the individual and joint effects of weekly hours of informal caregiving and paid work on the risk of CVD.; Methods: Pooled analysis with 1396 informal caregivers in gainful employment, from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health and the Whitehall II study. Informal caregiving was defined as care for an aged or disabled relative. The outcome was CVD during 10 years follow-up.