Family caregivers depressed, stressed

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- Stress and depression affect caregivers for elderly parents, a spouse or a disabled family member more than others, a U.S. poll indicates.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index involved 140,853 interviews of U.S. adults, who were employed full-time, of which 23,520 identified themselves as caregivers based on their response to the question: "Do you currently help care for an elderly or disabled family member, relative, or friend, or not?"

Six percent of caregivers who were employed full-time were ages 18-29; 22 percent were ages 30-44; 65 percent were ages 45-64 and 6 percent were age 65 and older.

Caregivers, who represent 16 percent of the full-time U.S. workforce, have an Emotional Health Index score of 78, which is significantly lower than the 81.9 found among non-caregivers, the poll indicates.

Caregivers who work and are younger than age 45 exhibit the greatest emotional health deficit relative to non-caregivers, the survey reveals.

The telephone interviews were conducted Jan. 2 to Nov. 24 last year. The overall margin of error was 0.6 percentage point, but for the smaller age groups -- those ages 18-29 and those ages 65 and older -- the margin of error of 3 percentage points.