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Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study
Schulz R, Beach SR. JAMA, 1999-12-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
This prospective study followed 392 older spousal caregivers and 427 non-caregivers for an average of 4.5 years. It found that caregivers who reported feeling mental or emotional strain from caregiving had a notably higher risk of dying during the study period than people who weren't caregiving — caregiving itself wasn't the danger, but caregiving under strain was.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Schulz, R., & Beach, SR. (1999). Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA.
Vancouver
Schulz R, Beach SR. Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA. 1999. PMID: 10605972.
BibTeX
@article{schulz1999-28eb29b7,
author = {Schulz, R. and Beach, SR.},
title = {{Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study}},
journal = {JAMA},
year = {1999},
pmid = {10605972}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- 103 of 819 participants (12.6%) died over the ~4.5-year follow-up
- Caregivers experiencing strain had a 63% higher adjusted mortality risk than non-caregivers (RR 1.63, 95% CI 1.00-2.65)
- Caregivers who did not report strain, and non-caregiving spouses of disabled partners, showed no elevated mortality risk
Why it matters
Caregivers who reported feeling mental or emotional strain from caregiving had a 63% higher adjusted mortality risk than non-caregivers. Caregivers who did not report strain showed no elevated mortality risk, so the danger was caregiving under strain rather than caregiving itself.
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Study details
- Study designcohort
- Participants819
- Effect sizeRR 1.63 (95% CI 1.00-2.65) for strained caregivers vs. non-caregivers
- Evidence strengthHigh
Limitations
Observational cohort; strain was self-reported; caregivers without strain and non-caregiving spouses of disabled partners showed no elevated risk, so the effect is specific to reported strain, not caregiving per se.
How this study scored 66/100
Published in a top-tier journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for randomized / blinded and indexed in PubMed because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multicenter collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 41 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 66 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (JAMA) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1999 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 819 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 0 / 2 | No PubMed ID and no DOI — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 41 / 62 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 41 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 66 out of 100. |
| Total | 66 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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