Sleep Deprivation Increases Risk of Depression in Family Caregivers
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Jan 01 - Caregivers who endure chronic sleep deprivation while caring for a terminally ill family member appear to be at increased risk of developing severe depressive symptoms, reports Dr. Patricia A. Carter, of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing.
"For years researchers have attempted to identify predictive variables for depression in family caregivers only to find that the most predictive variables such as age, gender, and acuity of illness were not readily amenable to interventions," Dr. Carter told Reuters Health. "Sleep, however, is a variable that is amenable to intervention," she added.
Dr. Carter, and colleague Betty L. Chang, of the University of California at Los Angeles, School of Nursing, measured depression and sleep quality indices in 51 caregivers (80% female). Sixty-one percent of the caregivers were spouses, while 29% were adult children. The study participants had cared for family members a mean of 16 hours per day for 2 years on average.
In the December issue of Cancer Nursing, the investigators report that 52.9% of the caregivers scored at or above 16, which is indicative of increased risk of clinical depression on the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale.
They also found that 95% of the caregivers reported severe overall sleep problems, such as sleep quality, latency, duration, efficiency, disturbances, and daytime dysfunction, which was determined by answers to the 19 self-rated questions on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. "Caregiver sleep problems were able to predict 63.6% of the variance in caregiver depression," the researchers write.
The caregivers who had a prescription for sleep medication, "were reluctant to take it because it prevented them from being able to monitor the care recipient's needs during the night," the researchers write.
"These findings show the importance of designing intervention studies that will explore alternative methods for helping caregivers to get adequate quality sleep while preserving their ability to monitor the care-recipient's needs at night," the researchers conclude.
Cancer Nurs 2000;23:410-415.
