THE IMPACT ON THE WIFE OF CARING FOR A PHYSICALLY ILL SPOUSE

The purpose of the study was to understand the impact on the wife of h aving a husband with COPD by determining the extent to which her mood was related to the stress of care giving, her health, her social suppo rt and the extent of the husband's illness. In order to separate the i mpact of having an ill husband from age-related changes, two groups of spouses were recruited; 26 wives of men with COPD and a matched sampl e of 26 wives with healthy husbands. Although there were no statistica lly significant differences in the scores between the two groups, the mood of the wives of COPD patients was influenced by their level of st ress and social support; whereas the mood of the wives of healthy men was influenced by the woman's own health status. These results further our understanding of how various factors influence wives of healthy h usbands compared to wives of husbands with a physical illness. This st udy, however, should be replicated with a larger sample. Future resear ch should also be aimed at further identification and quantification o f the effects on women who are caring for husbands who are physically ill with the ultimate goal of developing interventions to assist these women.