Older women who are caregivers for others may live longer

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-11-08 19:01

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Older women who take on the responsibility of helping sick, frail or otherwise limited friends or family are more likely to live longer, according to international research. Researchers recorded the self-reported caregiver status of nearly 160,000 women aged 50-79 years from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, and looked at death rates within the group in 2019. They say the rate of death of any cause was 9% lower among caregivers compared to those who did not identify as caregivers. The researchers say the reason for this is unknown, but suggest healthier women may be more likely to take on a caregiver role, and the role itself may encourage them to maintain their health.

Media release

From: Wiley

Does being a caregiver affect older women’s longevity?

In an analysis published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that included older US women, caregiving was associated with a lower risk of death over an average follow-up of 17.5 years.

In the analysis of 158,987 women aged 50–79 years when enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative (a long-term national health study), 31.8% of women died during follow-up, and women who reported being a caregiver over 2 assessments 10 years apart had a 9% lower risk of dying from any cause compared with non-caregivers. Caregiving was also associated with lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease or cancer.

The associations did not differ according to caregiving frequency or when participants were stratified by age, race-ethnicity, depressive symptoms, optimism, or living status.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently identified caregiving as a major public health issue in our rapidly aging US population. The burden of caregiving demands and their influence on health will be substantial in coming years and is an increasingly important focus in epidemiologic research,” said corresponding author Michael J. LaMonte, PhD, MPH, of the University at Buffalo-SUNY.

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Journal/
conference: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University at Buffalo-SUNY, USA

Funder: This work was supported by the WHI program funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services through 75N92021D00001, 75N92021D00002, 75N92021D00003, 75N92021D00004, 75N92021D00005.

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