Quality of Relationships With Caregivers, Depression, and Life Satisfaction After Dysvascular Lower Extremity Amputation.
Moriah J Brier, Rhonda M Williams, Aaron P Turner and 5 others
PMID 28987901WHAT IT FOUND
After first lower-limb amputation, people with more conflict with their main caregiver reported more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction.
Caregiver support related to life satisfaction but not depression. Ask about strain in the relationship.
Key findings
01Conflict with the main caregiver was significantly associated with 12-month depressive symptoms after controlling for global social support, age, and self-rated health.
02Both caregiver support and caregiver conflict were significantly associated with global life satisfaction after controlling for global social support, age, mobility, and self-rated health.
03Caregiver support was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms in the adjusted model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The analysis was cross-sectional at 12 months, so it cannot show that caregiver conflict caused depression or lower life satisfaction. Depression was measured by self-report, not clinical interview. The sample was 95% men and mostly white Veterans, so results may not apply to women or other groups. People who said they had no caregiver were excluded, so results do not apply to them. The sample was too small to examine whether spouse, paid caregiver, or other relationship type changed the findings. The 20 people who did not complete caregiver questions had lower global support and life satisfaction than the 137 who did, so missing answers may bias results.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include a conflict-of-interest statement. The article is tagged as supported by U.S. Government, non-PHS funds.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing caregiver conflict will improve depression or life satisfaction. This was an observational cross-sectional analysis, so it shows association, not a tested effect.