Sleep Problems, Anxiety, and Global Self-Rated Health Among Hospice Family Caregivers.
Karla T Washington, Debra Parker Oliver, Jamie B Smith and 3 others
PMID 28393543WHAT IT FOUND
Among hospice family caregivers, 31% reported sleep problems more than half the days or nearly every day, and 33% had moderate to severe anxiety.
Both were linked to poorer overall health.
Key findings
0131% of hospice family caregivers reported sleep problems more than half the days or nearly every day, and 33% had moderate to severe anxiety.
02Anxiety and sleep problems were highly correlated (r = 0.57).
03After adjusting for caregiver and patient characteristics, less anxiety and less frequent sleep problems were associated with better caregiver-reported general health.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The analysis was cross-sectional and used only baseline data, so it cannot show that sleep problems or anxiety caused poorer health. Sleep and overall health were measured with single self-report items, which may miss causes such as insomnia, sleep apnea, or nighttime caregiving responsibilities. The sample was volunteer hospice family caregivers from two US regions and was 92% Caucasian, so results may not apply to other caregiver groups. Because the sleep question came from a depression measure, total depression was not included in the model, so the analysis could not account for depression.
Declared interests
The pooled baseline data came from a randomized clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and an observational study funded by a Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholars Research Grant.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating a caregiver's sleep or anxiety will improve their health. This paper found associations at one time point and did not test any intervention.