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Some caregivers of spouses with chronic conditions at elevated risk for stroke
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Caregivers of spouses with chronic conditions who reported strain were at elevated risk for stroke, according to new data from the REGARDS study.
According to the study background, family caregiving has been associated with hypertension, CHD and increased Framingham stroke risk score, but little was known about the association between it and stroke risk.
Sindhu Lakkur, PhD, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues conducted a propensity-matched analysis of participants aged at least 45 years from the REGARDS study from 2003 to 2007. They presented their findings at the American Heart Association’s EPI/Lifestyle Scientific Sessions in Phoenix.
They defined caregivers as those who answered yes to the question, “Are you currently providing care on an ongoing basis to a family member with a chronic illness or disability?” They further categorized caregivers by relationship to recipient of care and by whether they perceived their own physical and mental strain to be none, some or a lot.
They matched 3,055 caregivers with 3,055 noncaregivers by a propensity score based on 16 demographic, lifestyle and stroke risk factors, and calculated incident stroke risk. Mean follow-up was 8.5 years.
During the study period, 3.73% of caregivers and 3.67% of noncaregivers had an incident stroke, and there was no difference between the groups in incident stroke risk (HR = 1.006; 95% CI, 0.775-1.306), according to the researchers.
For caregivers reporting no strain, the HR was 1.427 (95% CI, 0.938-2.171), whereas for those reporting some strain, it was 0.918 (95% CI, 0.628-1.341), and for those reporting a lot of strain, it was 1.963 (95% CI, 0.977-3.946), Lakkur and colleagues found.
However, caregivers of spouses who reported moderate or high strain had elevated risk for incident stroke compared with matched noncaregivers (HR = 1.958; 95% CI, 1.002-3.828), they found.
“This group of caregivers may need targeted support,” Lakkur and colleagues wrote in an abstract. “Further studies examining the nuanced effects of caregiver burden on [CV] health are required.” – by Erik Swain
Reference:
Lakkur S, et al. Abstract MP102. Presented at: American Heart Association’s EPI/Lifestyle Scientific Sessions; March 1-4, 2016; Phoenix.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.