The burden of informal caregiving in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia: results from national representative surveys

Petra Baji, Dominik Golicki, Valentina Prevolnik-Rupel, Werner Brouwer, Zsombor Zrubka, László Gulácsi and Márta Péntek
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Dominik Golicki: Medical University of Warsaw
Valentina Prevolnik-Rupel: Institute for Economic Research
Zsombor Zrubka: Corvinus University of Budapest
László Gulácsi: Corvinus University of Budapest
Márta Péntek: Corvinus University of Budapest

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2019, vol. 20, issue 1, No 2, 5-16

Abstract: Abstract Background We aimed to investigate the burden of informal care in Hungary (HU), Poland (PL) and Slovenia (SI). Methods A cross-sectional online survey was performed involving representative samples of 1000 respondents per country. Caregiving situations were explored; health status of informal caregivers/care recipients and care-related quality of life were assessed using the EQ-5D-5L and CarerQol-7D. Results The proportion of caregivers was (HU/PL/SI) 14.9, 15.0 and 9.6%, respectively. Their mean age was 56.1, 45.6 and 48.0, and the average time spent on informal care was 27.6, 35.5 and 28.8 h/week. Chronic care was dominant (> 1 year: 78.5%, 72.0%, 74.0%) and care recipients were mainly (own/in-law) parents. Average EQ-5D-5L scores of care recipients were 0.53, 0.49 and 0.52. For Poland and Slovenia, EQ-5D-5L scores of informal care providers were significantly lower than of other respondents. Average CarerQol-7D scores were (HU/PL/SI) 76.0, 69.6 and 70.9, and CarerQol-VAS was 6.8, 6.4 and 6.6, respectively. Overall, 89, 87, and 84% of caregivers felt some or a lot fulfilment related to caring. Problems with combining tasks with daily activities were most important in Hungary and Slovenia. Women had a higher probability of being a caregiver in Hungary. CarerQol-7D scores were significantly associated with caregivers’ EQ-5D-5L scores. In Hungary and Poland, living in a larger household was positively, while caring for patients with mental health problems was negatively associated with CarerQol-7D scores. Conclusions These first results from the Central and Eastern European region using preference-based measures for the evaluation of informal care can serve as a valuable input for health economic analyses.

Keywords: Informal care; Quality of life; CarerQol; EQ-5D-5L (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-019-01058-x

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