[Dependent relative: Effects on family health].

OBJETIVES: The purpose of this work is to analyse the effects on informal caregiver's health and lifestyle when living with a dependent person at home. A comparison will be made between this situation and other situations involving commitment of time and energy, taking into account gender and age differences in each stage of the life cycle.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study analysing secondary data.

SETTING

The method used for collecting information is the computer assisted personal interview carried out in selected homes by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality.

PARTICIPANTS

The study included 19,351 participants aged over 25 years who completed the 2011-2012 Spanish National Health Survey.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS: This research is based on demographic information obtained from a Spanish National Health Survey (2011/12). Using an empirical framework, the Logit model was select and the data reported as odds ratio. The estimations were repeated independently by sub-groups of age and gender.

RESULTS

The study showed that the health of people who share their lives with a dependent person is worse than those who do not have any dependent person at home (they are 5 times at higher risk of developing health problems). The study found that being a woman, advance age, low educational level and does not work, also has an influence. Being a caregiver reduces the likelihood of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through physical exercise, relaxation, or eating a balanced diet.

CONCLUSIONS

Living with a dependent person reduces the likelihood of maintaining healthy lifestyles and worsens the state of health of family members. Significant differences in gender and age were found.