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Gender differences in cardiovascular response to dementia caregiving
A A Atienza1, P C Henderson, S Wilcox
1Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, 730 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-2583, USA. audie.atienza@stanford.edu
Purpose:
This study examined gender differences in cardiovascular responses to laboratory-based stress, as well as in ambulatory hemodynamic (i.e., blood pressure and heart rate) functioning among caregivers of persons with dementia.
Design & Methods:
Participants were 25 men and 25 women caregivers, matched on age, type of care recipient's dementia, and relationship to the care recipient. After cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based caregiving stressor was assessed, the ambulatory hemodynamic functioning levels of caregivers were measured in caregivers' natural environments.
Results:
Female caregivers displayed greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to a laboratory-based stress task (i.e., discussing caregiving difficulties) compared with male caregivers (p < or =.01). In contrast, no gender differences were found for ambulatory hemodynamic functioning when aggregated overall or when in the presence of the care recipient.
Implications:
Laboratory-based findings suggest that female caregivers experience greater blood pressure reactivity to caregiving-related stress than do male caregivers. However, these laboratory-based gender differences may not generalize to differences in hemodynamic functioning in caregivers' daily lives.