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Family Caregivers of Older Adults, 1999-2015: Trends in Characteristics, Circumstances, and Role-Related Appraisal
Wolff JL, Mulcahy J, Huang J, Roth DL, Covinsky K, Kasper JD.. The Gerontologist, 2018-11-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Purpose of study To assess trends in family caregiving between 1999 and 2015. Design and methods We construct nationally representative profiles of community-dwelling older adults receiving help with self-care or indoor mobility and their "primary" family or unpaid caregiver using the 1999 and 2004 National Long Term Care Survey, 2011 and 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study, and linked caregiver surveys. Trends are examined. Results Older adults receiving help were incrementally younger, more racially diverse, and better educated in 2015. Primary caregivers overwhelmingly continued to be spouses and adult children. Arrangements were increasingly 4 years or longer in duration (shifting from 44.8% in 1999 to 60.5% by 2015). On average, primary caregivers provided about or in excess of 30 hr per week at all four time points. Spouses provided fewer hours of care, were twice as likely to work, and half as likely to report substantial emotional, physical, and financial difficulty due to caregiving in 2015 than 1999. Adult children provided comparable hours of care to a more impaired population; a similar proportion reported substantial caregiving-related difficulty at each time. Use of respite care nearly doubled from 8.5% in 1999 to 15.7% in 2015. Dementia caregivers were less likely to report substantial physical and financial difficulty and more likely to use respite care in 2015 than 1999. Implications Family caregivers' circumstances generally improved during the 16-year period. Results diverge from prevailing concerns regarding the state of family caregiving and demonstrate the importance of longitudinally monitoring trends in late-life family caregiving.
Key findings
- Results Older adults receiving help were incrementally younger, more racially diverse, and better educated in 2015.
- Results diverge from prevailing concerns regarding the state of family caregiving and demonstrate the importance of longitudinally monitoring trends in late-life family caregiving.
Why it matters
This study of national surveys from 1999 to 2015 found that caregiving arrangements lasted longer over time, with more than half lasting four years or longer by 2015. Dementia caregivers were less likely to report substantial physical and financial difficulty and more likely to use respite care.
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Study details
- Effect size44.8%; 60.5%; 8.5%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Gerontologist) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | The Gerontologist: journal h-index 238 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 267 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 26.7 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 68.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 11 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 83 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Judith D. Kasper: h-index 53 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28637266) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Wolff, J. L., Mulcahy, J., Huang, J., Roth, D. L., Covinsky, K., & Kasper, J. D. (2018). Family Caregivers of Older Adults, 1999-2015: Trends in Characteristics, Circumstances, and Role-Related Appraisal. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx093
Vancouver
Wolff JL, Mulcahy J, Huang J, Roth DL, Covinsky K, Kasper JD. Family Caregivers of Older Adults, 1999-2015: Trends in Characteristics, Circumstances, and Role-Related Appraisal. The Gerontologist. 2018. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx093. PMID: 28637266.
BibTeX
@article{wolff2018-28637266,
author = {Wolff, J. L. and Mulcahy, J. and Huang, J. and Roth, D. L. and Covinsky, K. and Kasper, J. D.},
title = {{Family Caregivers of Older Adults, 1999-2015: Trends in Characteristics, Circumstances, and Role-Related Appraisal}},
journal = {The Gerontologist},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1093/geront/gnx093},
pmid = {28637266},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx093}
}
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