WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Women who devote nine or more hours a week looking after an ill or disabled spouse have an increased risk of coronary heart disease, says a Harvard School of Public Health study.
However, the study found there is no increased risk of heart disease for women who provide care for a disabled or ill parent, sibling or other individual. That suggests the caregiving commitment is less burdensome or intense in those situations.
The researchers collected data on caregiving and heart disease from 1992 to 1996 for 54,412 women nurses, aged 46 to 71, who had no prior history of heart disease.
Over the course of the study, the researchers documented 321 cases of nonfatal and fatal coronary heart disease among the women.
After adjusting for factors such as age, exercise, body mass, smoking, saturated fat intake and history of high blood pressure or diabetes, the researchers concluded the women's risk of heart disease increased with nine or more hours of spousal caregiving a week.
The study found no association between the risk of coronary heart disease and the amount of stress or reward from caregiving reported by the women.
Despite that, the researchers suggest the mental distress of seeing a loved one suffer, combined with financial stress and the pressure of juggling work with caregiving may have contributed to the risk of heart disease in the women caregivers.
The study appears in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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