Financial stress experienced by informal carers of adults with a chronic disease: Results from an Australian population‐based cross‐sectional survey

Objective: To identify caregiving characteristics that are associated with financial stress in Australian carers of people with a chronic disease. Methods: Data were collected via the South Australian Health Omnibus, an annual population‐based, cross‐sectional survey. Individuals who provided care to someone with prevalent chronic conditions were asked about financial stress and caregiving characteristics. Results: Of 32.4% (988/3047) who were carers, 13.4% (132/988) experienced financial stress. Adjusting for age and household income, providing more than 20 hours of care per week (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.48‐3.86), transport assistance (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.15‐3.09) and assistance with household tasks (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.14‐3.26) and caring for a person with a mental illness (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.24‐3.28) were associated with a significant increase in odds of experiencing financial stress. Caring for a person with cancer (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.30‐0.81) or dementia (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.21‐0.76) was associated with decrease in odds. Conclusions: Financial stress was reported by more than 13% of carers, and factors other than household income were implicated.