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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.129817v1 AJPH.2007.129817v2 99/7/1254    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Brehaut, J. C. Articles by Rosenbaum, P. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Brehaut, J. C. Articles by Rosenbaum, P. L. Related Collections Disability Adolescent Health Other Statistics/Evaluation/Research

Jamie C. Brehaut, PhD, Dafna E. Kohen, PhD, Rochelle E. Garner, PhD, Anton R. Miller, MB, ChB, FRCPC, Lucyna M. Lach, PhD, MSW, Anne F. Klassen, DPhil and Peter L. Rosenbaum, MD

Jamie C. Brehaut is with the Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, and the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa. Dafna E. Kohen is with the Information and Research Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, and the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa. Rochelle E. Garner is with the Information and Research Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa. Anton R. Miller is with the Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and the Centre for Community Child Health Research, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver. Lucyna M. Lach is with McGill University's School of Social Work, Montreal, Quebec. Anne F. Klassen is with the Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Peter L. Rosenbaum is with the McMaster Child Health Research Institute, Hamilton.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr Jamie C. Brehaut, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus, ASB 2-004, Box 693, 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Y 4E9 (e-mail: jbrehaut{at}ohri.ca).

Objectives. We used population-based data to evaluate whether caring for a child with health problems had implications for caregiver health after we controlled for relevant covariates.

Methods. We used data on 9401 children and their caregivers from a population-based Canadian study. We performed analyses to compare 3633 healthy children with 2485 children with health problems. Caregiver health outcomes included chronic conditions, activity limitations, self-reported general health, depressive symptoms, social support, family functioning, and marital satisfaction. Covariates included family (single-parent status, number of children, income adequacy), caregiver (gender, age, education, smoking status, biological relationship to child), and child (age, gender) characteristics.

Results. Logistic regression showed that caregivers of children with health problems had more than twice the odds of reporting chronic conditions, activity limitations, and elevated depressive symptoms, and had greater odds of reporting poorer general health than did caregivers of healthy children.

Conclusions. Caregivers of children with health problems had substantially greater odds of health problems than did caregivers of healthy children. The findings are consistent with the movement toward family-centered services recognizing the link between caregivers' health and health of the children for whom they care.