The prevalence of injury for stroke caregivers and associated risk factors

A vast body of research has shown that the emotional and physical demands of caregiving may lead to increased stress and burden. However, it is unknown whether these factors are associated with increased risk for injuries among caregivers.

Stroke survivors and their caregivers (N = 275) were surveyed using existing measures to explore the prevalence of physical injuries among caregivers and the types of injuries and factors associated with caregiver injury.

Caregiver measures included items from the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) survey and the short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Veterans completed items on health and functioning from the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance Survey (BRFSS).

We found that stroke caregivers who experience high burden levels and/or depression are considerably more likely to experience an increased risk for injury. Further, the vast majority of injured caregivers indicated that their injury interfered with their ability to provide care for the veteran.

This suggests that injury on the part of the family caregiver may lead to the veteran's placement in a skilled nursing facility and lead to increased costs for the Department of Veteran's Affairs.