A Longitudinal Assessment of Parental Caregiving and Blood Pressure Trajectories: Findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for Women 2000–2011

Background

Few studies have investigated the consequences of caregiving on the objectively measured physiological health outcomes in China. This study used population-based longitudinal data to examine the association between parental caregiving and blood pressure among Chinese women.

Method

This is a retrospective analysis of 2586 women using five waves of data from the Ever-Married Women Survey component of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2000, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011). We applied growth curve models to examine trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) associated with parental caregiving among women in China.

Results

In multivariable analyses of blood pressure trajectories adjusting for potential confounders, parental caregivers had higher systolic (β-coefficient (β) = 1.16; p ≤ 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.75; p ≤ 0.01) compared with non-caregivers across multiple waves. Caregivers and non-caregivers had similar levels of systolic blood pressure at baseline, but caregivers exhibited relatively higher growth rate over time. Diastolic blood pressure was much higher among caregivers at the baseline measure, and across time relative to non-caregivers. Moreover, low-intensity but not high-intensity caregivers showed higher growth rate compared with non-caregivers for both SBP and DBP.

Discussion

Our results demonstrate the negative cardiovascular consequences of parental caregiving among Chinese women. Findings from the study can be used to develop future stress management interventions to decrease hypertension risk within women who provide care to their parents.