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. 2019 Jun;20(Suppl 1):5-16.
doi: 10.1007/s10198-019-01058-x. Epub 2019 May 14.

The burden of informal caregiving in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia: results from national representative surveys

Petra Baji  1 , Dominik Golicki  2 , Valentina Prevolnik-Rupel  3 , Werner B F Brouwer  4 , Zsombor Zrubka  5   6 , László Gulácsi  5 , Márta Péntek  5
Affiliations

The burden of informal caregiving in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia: results from national representative surveys

Petra Baji et al. Eur J Health Econ. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigate the burden of informal care in Hungary (HU), Poland (PL) and Slovenia (SI).

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was performed involving representative samples of 1000 respondents per country. Caregiving situations were explored; health status of informal caregivers/care recipients and care-related quality of life were assessed using the EQ-5D-5L and CarerQol-7D.

Results: The proportion of caregivers was (HU/PL/SI) 14.9, 15.0 and 9.6%, respectively. Their mean age was 56.1, 45.6 and 48.0, and the average time spent on informal care was 27.6, 35.5 and 28.8 h/week. Chronic care was dominant (> 1 year: 78.5%, 72.0%, 74.0%) and care recipients were mainly (own/in-law) parents. Average EQ-5D-5L scores of care recipients were 0.53, 0.49 and 0.52. For Poland and Slovenia, EQ-5D-5L scores of informal care providers were significantly lower than of other respondents. Average CarerQol-7D scores were (HU/PL/SI) 76.0, 69.6 and 70.9, and CarerQol-VAS was 6.8, 6.4 and 6.6, respectively. Overall, 89, 87, and 84% of caregivers felt some or a lot fulfilment related to caring. Problems with combining tasks with daily activities were most important in Hungary and Slovenia. Women had a higher probability of being a caregiver in Hungary. CarerQol-7D scores were significantly associated with caregivers' EQ-5D-5L scores. In Hungary and Poland, living in a larger household was positively, while caring for patients with mental health problems was negatively associated with CarerQol-7D scores.

Conclusions: These first results from the Central and Eastern European region using preference-based measures for the evaluation of informal care can serve as a valuable input for health economic analyses.

Keywords: CarerQol; EQ-5D-5L; Informal care; Quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

In connection with writing this article, PB received grant support from the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities in the framework of the ‘Financial and Public Services’ research project (20764-3/2018/FEKUTSTRAT) at Corvinus University of Budapest. DG, VR, WB, ZZ, LG and MP declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of answers on the CarerQol-7D dimensions. HU Hungary (N = 149), PL Poland (N = 150), SI Slovenia (N = 96)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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