Emotional support from family members and subjective health in caregivers of the frail elderly at home in Japan

This study sought to determine the factors associated with subjective health in caregivers of the frail elderly living at home, using multivariate regression analysis. Data were collected from 130 caregivers of frail elderly persons listed on a roster for utilization of day service or short stay service from two Home Visit Nursing Care Stations, using self-administered questionnaire from January to February of 2005. Family caregivers were defined as co-residents family members who provided a minimum of 1 h of daily care for at least 3 months. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the factors associated with subjective health in caregivers of the frail elderly at home. Subjects with good health had less depressive symptom (p = 0.001), much emotional support (p = 0.003) and low caregiver burden (p = 0.03). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed good health had a significantly positive association with only much emotional support after adjustment for confounders. Of the total effect of emotional support on subjective health, the direct effect (84.7%) was much greater than the indirect effect (15.3%). Results indicate that much emotional support from family member for caregiver is essential for better subjective health in caregivers.