Description of primary caregivers to adults over age 70

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of and tasks performed by primary caregivers to adults over age 70 and evaluate how they change over time.

METHODS: Using the Longitudinal Study on Aging (1994-2000), we calculated the baseline frequencies of selected characteristics for primary caregivers, such as gender, relationship to care recipient, household status and tasks for which they provided assistance. We then compared these estimates to the results from the two subsequent waves of data collection.

RESULTS: The proportion of the surveyed population that had at least one caregiver increased from 32.1% at baseline to 53.7% by Wave 3. For all three waves, approximately 75% of primary caregivers were female, nearly half lived in the same household as the care recipient, and spouses and children of the care recipient were most likely to be primary caregivers (each group making up approximately 30% of all primary caregivers). Of those who survived the entire survey period, the percentage of respondents who had a primary caregiver assist with at least one activity of daily living increased from 6.1% to 16.5% and at least one instrumental activity of daily living increased from 20.9% to 49.8%.

CONCLUSION: This population-based assessment to describe the characteristics of primary caregivers provides valuable information about who is providing care for older adults and how their caregiving duties change over time. These results can provide the foundation to create and implement targeted interventions to help caregivers manage their caregiving responsibilities with respect to other components of their life.