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. 2020 Nov 2;6(1):e12082.
doi: 10.1002/trc2.12082. eCollection 2020.

Changes in physical and mental health of Black, Hispanic, and White caregivers and non-caregivers associated with onset of spousal dementia

Cynthia Chen  1 , Johanna Thunell  2 , Julie Zissimopoulos  2
Affiliations

Changes in physical and mental health of Black, Hispanic, and White caregivers and non-caregivers associated with onset of spousal dementia

Cynthia Chen et al. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). .

Abstract

Introduction: We aim to determine whether racial/ethnic health disparities are a consequence of caregiving for persons with dementia and/or health status before becoming a caregiver.

Methods: Longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2012) on 7859 Black, Hispanic, and White couples were analyzed for changes in physical and mental health with incident dementia of a spouse.

Results: Blacks and Hispanics, but not Whites, had poorer health before becoming caregivers for a spouse with dementia, than those who did not become caregivers. Spouse's dementia onset was associated with caregiver's higher odds of depressive disorder, with no racial/ethnic variation. Racial disparities in caregiver's health were attributed to health differences before caregiving, not differential health changes due to caregiving.

Discussion: Older Blacks and Hispanics with poor health are at increased risk of caregiving for a spouse with dementia. Protecting the health of persons supporting spouses with dementia requires understanding socioeconomic and cultural factors driving care provision.

Keywords: caregiving; dementia; depression; racial disparities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prevalence of depressive disorder and poor self‐reported health before (t = –2), at (t = 0), and after (t = 2) onset of spousal dementia by race/ethnicity and caregiving status at t = 0 or t = 2. Note: Prevalence of depressive disorder and poor health by race/ethnicity among couples with incident dementia of a spouse over the study period 1998–2012. Prevalence rates are shown separately and by a solid line for those who become caregivers (cg) and a dashed line for those who do not become caregivers (nocg) after onset of a spouse's dementia
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Predicted probability of onset of depressive disorder by race, dementia, and caregiving. Note: Predictions from multivariate logistic regression with random‐intercept, robust variance estimators (Table 2, model 2), study waves 1998–2012 (n = 47,873 person waves. Adjusted for factors: race/ethnicity, dementia, caregiving, sex, age, education, household wealth, survey year
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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