Health-related quality of life in carers of patients with dementia

BACKGROUND: Carers of patients with dementia experience high levels of stress that can adversely affect their health and well-being. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the health-related quality of life of carers of patients with dementia compared with an age- and gender-matched sample from the general population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 37 primary health care centres in Catalonia, Spain. Carers (n = 181; 78% females, mean age 63 years) of patients with dementia together with a random sample of 543 individuals from the general population, matched for age and gender, were assessed with the SF-36 questionnaire, which is a generic measure of health status. RESULTS: With the exception of physical function category, seven of the scales showed lower scores for females in the carer group. The most important differences were observed in the emotional role [95% confidence interval (CI) -37.7 to -3.6], mental health (95% CI -21.0 to -1.6) and bodily pain (95% CI -37.7 to -8.6) categories. In contrast, male carers had higher scores in the physical function category (95% CI 2.2-19.4), and no differences were observed on the other scales. CONCLUSION: Female carers of patients with dementia experienced a seriously decreased quality of life level compared with their contemporaries in the general population.