Gender Difference in the Caregiving Burden and Psychological Distress of Family Caregivers of Liver Transplant Recipients.
Chun-Hui Liao, Wei-Chen Lee, Yi-Wen Wang and 1 others
PMID 41489224WHAT IT FOUND
Burden did not differ by gender, but women reported higher distress; burden was linked to distress, and men's depression and stress rose more as burden increased.
Key findings
01Caregiver burden was mostly no or mild-to-moderate: 59.3% had no burden and 40.7% had mild-to-moderate burden.
02Higher caregiver burden was associated with higher depression, anxiety and stress.
03For male caregivers, each 1-point increase in burden was associated with a 0.48-point increase in depression and a 0.429-point increase in stress; the same pattern was not significant for anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used a convenience sample from a single tertiary medical center, so caregivers who agreed may differ from those who did not. It was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 23 of 125 considered caregivers did not consent, partly because they wanted to minimise time in hospital. Only 18 male caregivers were included, so the gender moderation findings are based on a small male subgroup. The design was cross-sectional, so it shows associations but cannot prove that caregiver burden caused distress. The sample was mostly female and spouse caregivers, which limits generalisation to other caregiver relationships or settings. All measures were self-report questionnaires, and no clinical interview or longitudinal follow-up was used.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council. The supplied text does not state commercial funding, author conflicts of interest or sponsor involvement in study design, analysis or manuscript writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that caregiver burden causes distress. It was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey with only 18 male caregivers, so it shows association and the gender findings are uncertain.