Background Dementia caregiving is a dynamic and multidimensional process. To gain a comprehensive understanding of informal caregiving for people living with dementia (PLWD), it is pivotal to assess the quality of life (QoL) of informal caregivers. Objective To evaluate whether the care–recipient relationship type predicts changes in the QoL of informal caregivers of PLWD over a two-year period. Methods This was a secondary analysis of longitudinal data. The data were drawn from two waves of linked data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) (2015: NHATS R5 & NSOC II; 2017: NHATS R7 & NSOC III). Caregivers were categorized into spousal, adult–child, “other” caregiver and “multiple” caregivers. QoL was assessed through negative emotional burden (NEB), positive emotional benefits and social strain (SS). Generalized estimating equation modelling was used to examine changes in caregivers’ QoL outcomes across types of relationship over time. Results About, 882 caregivers were included who linked to 601 PLWD. After adjusting caregivers’ socio-demographics, “other” caregivers had lower risk of NEB and SS than spousal caregivers (OR = 0.34, P = 0.003, 95%CI [0.17, 0.70]; OR = 0.37, P = 0.019, 95%CI 0.16, 0.85], respectively), and PLWD’s dementia status would not change these significance (OR = 0.33, P = 0.003, 95%CI [0.16, 0.68]; OR = 0.31, P = 0.005, 95%CI [0.14, 0.71], respectively). Conclusions The study demonstrates that spousal caregivers face a higher risk of NEB and SS over time, underscoring the pressing need to offer accessible and effective support for informal caregivers of PLWD, especially those caring for their spouses.

中文翻译：

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随着时间的推移，护理-接受者关系类型对痴呆症老年人护理人员生活质量的影响


背景 痴呆症护理是一个动态和多维的过程。为了全面了解痴呆症患者 (PLWD) 的非正式护理，评估非正式护理人员的生活质量 (QoL) 至关重要。目的 评估护理-接受者关系类型是否可以预测 PLWD 非正式护理人员两年内生活质量的变化。方法这是对纵向数据的二次分析。数据取自国家健康与老龄化趋势研究 (NHATS) 和国家护理研究 (NSOC) 的两波关联数据（2015 年：NHATS R5 和 NSOC II；2017 年：NHATS R7 和 NSOC III）。照顾者被分为配偶、成人-儿童、“其他”照顾者和“多个”照顾者。生活质量通过消极情绪负担（NEB）、积极情绪益处和社交压力（SS）进行评估。广义估计方程模型用于检查不同类型关系的护理人员的生活质量结果随时间的变化。结果 大约包括 882 名护理人员，他们与 601 名 PLWD 相关。调整照顾者的社会人口统计数据后，“其他”照顾者患 NEB 和 SS 的风险低于配偶照顾者（OR = 0.34，P = 0.003，95%CI [0.17，0.70]；OR = 0.37，P = 0.019，95% CI 分别为 0.16，0.85]，PLWD 的痴呆状态不会改变这些显着性（OR = 0.33，P = 0.003，95%CI [0.16，0.68]；OR = 0.31，P = 0.005，95%CI [0.14， 0.71]，分别）。结论 该研究表明，随着时间的推移，配偶照顾者面临着更高的 NEB 和 SS 风险，这凸显了迫切需要为 PLWD 的非正式照顾者，特别是那些照顾其配偶的人提供方便和有效的支持。