Cohen, S. A.

Objectives: The objective of this exploratory study was to explore potential associations between changes to caregiver burden (CB) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rural-urban status using a nationally representative sample of 761 informal caregivers. Methods: Tertiles of two measures of rural-urban status were used: Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCAs) and population density. Bivariate and multivariable binary and ordinal logistic regression were used to asses study objectives.

The current study examined potential gender differences in the associations between informal caregiving, poor mental health, and subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Data were obtained from the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (N = 16,042; 9,410 women, 6,632 men). Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to obtain adjusted beta s and odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) depicting the association between informal caregiving, poor mental health, and SCD overall and by gender.