Health status

Background and objectives: Social factors have demonstrated to affect pain intensity and quality of life of pain patients, such as social support or the attitudes and responses of the main informal caregiver. Similarly, pain has negative consequences on the patient’s social environment. However, it is still rare to include social factors in pain research and treatment. This study compares patient and caregivers’ accuracy, as well as explores personality and health correlates of empathic accuracy in patients and caregivers.

Objective: To investigate the decision-making processes applied by people with dementia and family carers participating in using health economic approaches to value dementia-specific quality of life states. Methods: People with dementia (n = 13) and family carers (n = 14) participated in valuing quality of life states using two health economic approaches: Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) and Best Worst Scaling (BWS). Participants were encouraged to explain their reasoning using a “Think Aloud” approach.

In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine factors influencing the health status of caregivers of stroke survivors. A total of 126 caregivers of stroke survivors were recruited from three outpatient clinics in Thai Nguyen National General Hospital, Vietnam, from November 2016 to March 2017. Data were collected through six instruments: a demographic questionnaire, the Modified Barthel Index, the Zarit Burden Interview Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Family Caregiver Conflict Scale, and the Short Form-36 Health Survey.

We performed this cross-sectional study with 72 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and their family caregivers to analyze relationship of physical and psychological health status between COPD patients and caregivers. Most caregivers were female (100%). Caregiver depression and burden were significantly associated with caregiving hours. In path analysis, the higher the patient's social support, the higher the patient's self-efficacy. The higher the patient's self-efficacy, the lower the care burden of the caregiver.

Background and Purpose: This study aimed was to measure the quality of life, fatigue, stress, and depression in a consecutive sample of caregivers of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.; Methods: We included data from 131 consecutive caregivers of MS patients [age=51.2±12.8 years (mean±SD), males=53.4%, duration of caregiving=10.0±6.3 years].

Aims and objectives This study set out to describe caregiver experience, health‐related quality of life and life satisfaction among informal caregivers to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and to explore factors associated with caregivers’ health‐related quality of life and life satisfaction. Background Knowledge about factors related to caregivers’ health‐related quality of life and life satisfaction is important for identification of those at risk for ill health and for development of support and care.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to investigate associations between caregiving and adiposity using a representative UK longitudinal study. We also investigated whether associations differed by age, gender and caregiving characteristics. METHODS: Data on 9,421 participants aged 16+ from three waves (2009-2012) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study were used. Body mass index, waist circumference and percentage body fat were assessed.

Background: Family carers provide vital support for patients towards end-of-life, but caregiving has considerable impact on carers’ own health. The scale of this problem is unknown, as previous research has involved unrepresentative samples or failed to fully capture caregiving close to death. Aim: To quantify level of psychological morbidity and general health among a census sample of carers of people with cancer at end-of-life, compared to population reference data.

Objectives: Informal caregiving is associated with poorer mental and physical health. Little research has yet focused on objectively measured health risk factors, such as metabolic markers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether informal caregiving was associated with markers of metabolism in a large, representative UK longitudinal study.

Background: Informal caregivers of post-stroke patients usually undergo high levels of pain and stress and have a reduced quality of life.; Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of two home ergonomic interventions aimed at reducing pain intensity and perceived stress and enhancing the quality of life in informal caregivers of chronic post-stroke patients.; Methods: A randomized single-blind controlled clinical trial was conducted, with a sample of 33 informal caregivers of patients with stroke.