Time trends in health inequalities due to care in the context of the Spanish Dependency Law Evolución de las desigualdades en salud debidas al cuidado en el contexto de la Ley de Dependencia española
Salvador-Piedrafita, M. (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Malmusi, Davide (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Catalunya))
Borrell i Thió, Carme (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Date:	2017
Abstract:	In Spain, responsibility for care of old people and those in situations of dependency is assumed by families, and has an unequal social distribution according to gender and socioeconomic level. This responsibility has negative health effects on the carer. In 2006, the Dependency Law recognised the obligation of the State to provide support. This study analyses time trends in health inequalities attributable to caregiving under this new law. Study of trends using two cross-sectional samples from the 2006 and 2012 editions of the Spanish National Health Survey (27,922 and 19,995 people, respectively). We compared fair/poor self-rated health, poor mental health (GHQ-12 >2), back pain, and the use of psychotropic drugs between non-carers, carers sharing care with other persons, and those providing care alone. We obtain prevalence ratios by fitting robust Poisson regression models. Results We observed no change in the social profile of carers according to gender or social class. Among women, the difference in all health indicators between carers and non-carers tended to decrease among those sharing care but not among lone carers. Inequalities tend to decrease slightly in both groups of men carers. Between 2006 and 2012, trends in health inequalities attributable to informal care show different trends according to gender and share of responsibility. It is necessary to redesign and implement policies to reduce inequalities that take into account the most affected groups, such as women lone carers. Policies that strengthen the fair social distribution of care should also be adopted.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Castellà
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Carer ; Cuidadores ; Desigualdades en salud ; Gender ; Género ; Health inequalities ; Mental health ; Políticas públicas ; Public policy ; Salud autopercibida ; Salud mental ; Self-rated health
Published in:	Gaceta sanitaria, Vol. 31 Núm. 1 (enero 2017) , p. 11-17, ISSN 1578-1283

DOI: 10.1016/j.gaceta.2016.06.006
PMID: 27491432

7 p, 448.9 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles