Effect of giving care on caregivers' health

This longitudinal study of 121 caregivers of the elderly evaluates the chan ge in their self-assessed mental and physical health over two years. The ca re recipients, who were drawn from a random sample of noninstitutionalized urban elders, showed increased need for help with personal and instrumental activities of daily living in this period. Both the physical and mental he alth of the caregivers declined significantly during the study. Predictors of decline in physical health of the caregivers at the end of the study wer e poorer physical health at the start, the amount of help they provided, a decline in their own mental health, and an increase in the number of other persons also available to provide care. In contrast, decline in caregivers' mental health at the end was predicted only by poorer mental health at the start and by decline in physical health.