Caring for a sick family member linked to sleep problems

For people who are in the workforcealready, the added burden of unpaid caregiving for a familymember or loved one may lead to insomnia and other sleep issues,according to a large study from Sweden.

Researchers found that the likelihood of sleep problems rosewith the number of hours spent in unpaid caregiving, and whencaregiving stopped, sleep disturbances were reduced.

Informal caregiving is common, and the need for carers isexpected to grow due to population aging and cuts to social careservices in various countries,said lead study author LawrenceSacco of the Institute of Gerontology at King's College Londonin the UK.

Caregivers often face conflicting schedules and feel a senseof obligation, leaving some with little or no choice about whenand how to help loved ones, he noted.

Sleeping problems are common and deserve attention becausepeople with insomnia are more likely to suffer from otherphysical illnesses,Sacco told Reuters Health by email. Sleepdisturbance and tiredness are also symptoms of depression andother mood disorders.

Sacco and his colleagues at the Stress Research Institute atStockholm University analyzed responses from 12,200 participantsin the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, aquestionnaire mailed every two years to employed residents ofSweden aged 16 to 64. The researchers focused on surveys in 2010through 2016.

They defined informal caregivers as those who, without pay,help or care for an elderly, ill or disabled relative other thana child or grandchild. Participants were asked how many hoursthey typically spend on this caregiving each week.

They were also asked how often in the prior three monthsthey had difficulties falling asleep, repeated awakenings,premature awakenings or restless sleep.

About 85 per cent of the survey participants were notcaregivers, while 12 per cent spent 1 to 5 hours providing careeach week and 2 per cent spent anywhere from 6 to 15 hourscaregiving.

After adjusting for social and economic factors, as well asthe caregiver's own health status, the researchers found thatsleep problems were more common among caregivers overall, andmost common among those who provided more than five hours aweek.

When caregiving ceased from one survey year to the followingone, researchers saw a drop in reported sleep troubles.

Caregivers were more likely to be female and older, to haveless education, to work less than 20 paid hours per week and toreport physical pain, chronic illness, poor health anddepression.

This means that increases in informal caregiving that areexpected in the years ahead as a result of population aging mayhit those who are already struggling the hardest,Sacco said.

Fewer problems in men

The study team saw no difference in sleep problems betweenmen who provided no care versus those who provided up to fivehours of caregiving, but women reported sleep problems at alllevels of caregiving. That could be related to the differenttasks that men and women perform as caregivers, the authorswrite in the journal Sleep.

Future studies should look at working people in variouscountries, Sacco added, since Sweden uses a welfare model aimedat minimizing conflict between paid work and caregivingcommitments.

This is a wake-up call to governments and employers thatthey should be supporting informal caregivers better,he said.

In addition, future research should examine what types andaspects of caregiving affect sleep the most, said Dr. Barry Okenof Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, who wasn'tinvolved in the study.

Caregiving at home for someone with dementia or chronicpain may cause more problems with the care recipient's sleep andperhaps then the caregiver's sleep,he told Reuters Health byemail.

Oken said he is interested in finding ways to helpcaregivers improve their sleep. In recent studies, he andcolleagues have found that mind-body practices, such asmindfulness meditation, can improve mental health in caregiversand stressed older adults.

Be aware that sleeping may be impacted by caregiving andexplore with health providers what you can do to minimize it, he said. What society can do to help minimize this is alludedto here but is a bigger question.