Abstract
BackgroundThe increase in the elderly population, chronic and degenerative diseases, as well as accidents at work and on the road in Malaysia would result in an increased demand for informal care. This paper aimed to determine the associated factors of informal caregiving and its effects on health, work and social activities of adult informal caregivers in Malaysia.MethodsThe data from the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), a nationwide cross-sectional survey with a two-stage stratified random sampling design, was used in this research. The study included respondents who were 18 years and older (n = 11,674). Data were obtained via face-to-face interviews using validated questionnaires. Descriptive and complex sample logistic regression analyses were employed as appropriate.Results5.7% of the adult population were informal caregivers. Provision of informal care were significantly associated with the female sex (OR = 1.52, 95% CI [1.21, 1.92]), those aged 36–59 years (OR = 1.61, 95% CI [1.15, 2.25]), and those who reported illness in the past 2 weeks (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.38, 2.33]). The risk of having their health affected were associated with female caregivers (OR = 3.63, 95% CI [1.73, 7.61]), those who received training (OR = 2.10, 95% CI [1.10, 4.00]) and those who provided care for 2 years or more (OR = 1.91, 95% CI [1.08, 3.37]). The factors associated with the effects on work were ethnicity, received training and had no assistance to provide the care. In terms of effect on social activities, female caregivers (OR = 1.96, 95% CI [1.04, 3.69]) and caregivers who received training were more likely (OR = 2.19, 95% CI [1.22, 3.93]) to have their social activities affected.ConclusionOur study revealed that sex, age, and self-reported illness were factors associated with being an informal caregiver in Malaysia. Informal caregivers faced effects on their health, work, and social activities which may be detrimental to their well-being. This understanding is crucial for planning support for caregivers.
Highlights
The increase in the elderly population, chronic and degenerative diseases, as well as accidents at work and on the road in Malaysia would result in an increased demand for informal care
To the best of our knowledge, a study pertaining to informal care provision that could be generalised nationally is currently unavailable in Malaysia. To fill this knowledge gap, our study aims to determine the factors associated with informal care provision and identify how these factors affect health, work and social activities of adult informal caregivers in Malaysia using the informal care model
Factors associated with provision of informal care The associated factors of informal caregiving were sex, age group and self-reported illness (Table 2)
Summary
The increase in the elderly population, chronic and degenerative diseases, as well as accidents at work and on the road in Malaysia would result in an increased demand for informal care. Informal care has significant preventative properties in terms of avoiding or delaying institutionalisation [3] and can be seen as a practical measure to contain the costs of health services while at the same time support the widespread preferences among older people to be cared for at their own home and their familiar environment [4, 5]. The ageing population along with the rise in incidence of chronic and degenerative diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and stroke, as well as elevated cases of accidents at work and on the road in Malaysia [7] points towards an increased need for informal care provision [8]. The increasing age at marriage, longer lifespan, participation of women in the labour force, smaller household size, and the growing preference for the nuclear family concept led to difficulty in provision of informal care [13]
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