Role of psychosocial work factors in the relation between becoming a caregiver and changes in health behaviour: results from the Whitehall II cohort study
Authors: Dich N et al.
Summary: This investigation obtained data from the Whitehall II cohort study, which originally recruited
10,308 British civil service workers aged 35–55 years during the period 1985–1988. Follow-ups were
conducted at every subsequent phase approximately every 2 years. Phase 3 (1991–1994) served as the
baseline for this present investigation, which involved 5419 subjects who were not caregivers at this point.
During phase 4 (1995–1996), 304 subjects became caregivers to an aged or disabled relative. Assessments
of smoking, alcohol consumption and exercise at baseline and follow-up (phase 5, 1997–1999) revealed
that those who became caregivers were more likely to increase frequency of alcohol consumption, but only
if they also reported low decision latitude at work (OR 1.65; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.37 vs non-caregivers with
average decision latitude), or belonged to a low occupational social class (OR 2.38; 95% CI, 1.17 to 4.78 vs
non-caregivers of high occupational social class). Caregivers were more likely to quit smoking if job demands
were low (OR 2.92; 95% CI ,1.07 to 7.92 vs non-caregivers with low job demands), or if social support at
work was high (OR 2.99; 95% CI, 1.01 to 8.86 vs caregivers with average social support). There was no
effect of caregiving on reducing exercise below recommended number of hours per week, or on drinking
above recommended number of units per week, regardless of job demands. Estimates were generally
unchanged after the researchers adjusted for baseline long-term illness and depressive symptoms.
Reference: Reference: J Epidemiol Community Health. 2016;70:1200-6
Abstract