Table 3.
Fully adjusted fixed effects models separately for the SF36 Mental and General Health components: Estimates of carer status effect, effects of individual characteristics on non-carer status and carer status differential effects (interaction effects)
| Variables | SF36 Mental Health Component | SF36 General Health Component | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coef. | [95% Conf. Interval] |
Coef. | [95% Conf. Interval] |
|||
| Carer Status (Yes/No): Actively cares for a household member/non-resident due to long-term health condition, elderly | −3.010*** | −5.371 | −0.648 | −3.106*** | −5.378 | − 0.834 |
| Effects on Non-Carer Status: main terms | ||||||
| Non-Carer: Age | −0.009 | − 0.039 | 0.021 | − 0.421*** | − 0.453 | − 0.390 |
| Non-Carer: Time spent in (hrs/mins) per week Caring for disabled/elderly relative | − 0.039*** | − 0.065 | − 0.012 | − 0.003 | −0.025 | 0.018 |
| Non-Carer: Employment Status | ||||||
| Employed - works 35 hours a week (Reference group) | ||||||
| Employed - works less than 35 hours a week | −0.560*** | − 0.838 | − 0.282 | −0.706*** | − 0.985 | −0.427 |
| Unemployed, retired, home duties, students & others | −1.412*** | − 1.746 | − 1.077 | − 1.158*** | − 1.498 | − 0.817 |
| Non-Carer: Alcohol Drinking Status | ||||||
| Never drink/No longer drink (Reference group) | ||||||
| Drink only rarely & 1 to 2 standard drinks | −0.414** | − 0.813 | − 0.014 | 0.259 | − 0.129 | 0.647 |
| Drink only rarely & 3 to 4 standard drinks | −0.818*** | −1.385 | − 0.250 | − 0.195 | − 0.744 | 0.353 |
| Drink only rarely & 5 and more standard drinks | −1.289*** | −2.020 | −0.558 | − 0.208 | − 0.915 | 0.499 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 1 to 2 standard drinks | − 0.416 | − 0.906 | 0.074 | 0.502** | 0.015 | 0.990 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 3 to 4 standard drinks | − 0.806*** | − 1.352 | − 0.259 | 0.027 | − 0.541 | 0.595 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 5 and more standard drinks | −1.912*** | −2.526 | − 1.299 | − 0.501 | − 1.112 | 0.110 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 1 to 2 standard drinks | − 0.726*** | − 1.212 | − 0.240 | 0.479* | −0.011 | 0.969 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 3 to 4 standard drinks | −1.308*** | − 1.847 | − 0.768 | 0.048 | − 0.492 | 0.589 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 5 and more standard drinks | −1.735*** | −2.313 | − 1.157 | − 0.806*** | − 1.381 | − 0.231 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 1 to 2 standard drinks | − 0.962*** | − 1.489 | − 0.435 | 0.301 | − 0.236 | 0.839 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 3 to 4 standard drinks | −1.896*** | − 2.460 | − 1.332 | − 0.292 | − 0.863 | 0.279 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 5 and more standard drinks | − 2.998*** | −3.664 | − 2.332 | −1.342*** | − 1.995 | − 0.689 |
| Non-Carer: How often participate in Physical Activities? | ||||||
| Not at all (Reference group) | ||||||
| Less than once a week | 1.304*** | 0.942 | 1.665 | 2.219*** | 1.847 | 2.591 |
| 1 to 2 times a week | 2.412*** | 2.042 | 2.781 | 4.118*** | 3.733 | 4.502 |
| 3 times a week | 3.394*** | 2.996 | 3.791 | 5.679*** | 5.271 | 6.087 |
| More than 3 times a week | 4.528*** | 4.131 | 4.926 | 7.628*** | 7.210 | 8.045 |
| Non-Carer: How often get together socially with friends/relatives? | ||||||
| Every Day | 4.984*** | 4.297 | 5.670 | 3.008*** | 2.361 | 3.656 |
| Several times a week | 4.483*** | 3.947 | 5.018 | 2.695*** | 2.203 | 3.186 |
| About once a week | 3.434*** | 2.920 | 3.947 | 2.115*** | 1.648 | 2.582 |
| 1 to 3 times a month | 2.536*** | 2.041 | 3.032 | 1.588*** | 1.136 | 2.041 |
| 1 or 2 times every 3 months | 1.155*** | 0.607 | 1.703 | 0.501** | 0.000 | 1.002 |
| Less often than once every 3 months (Reference group) | ||||||
| Non-Carer: Smoking Status | ||||||
| [Never smoked/No longer smoke (Reference group) | ||||||
| Smoke less often than weekly | 0.053 | −0.710 | 0.816 | −0.836** | −1.597 | − 0.076 |
| Smoke at least weekly (but not daily) | −0.433 | − 1.175 | 0.309 | −1.175*** | − 1.891 | − 0.460 |
| Smoke daily | − 0.746** | − 1.360 | − 0.133 | − 1.231*** | − 1.838 | − 0.625 |
| Differences in Carer versus Non-carer Status: interaction terms | ||||||
| Carer & Age | 0.024* | − 0.004 | 0.051 | 0.034** | 0.006 | 0.062 |
| Carer & Time spent in (hrs/mins) per week Caring for disabled/elderly relative | 0.021 | −0.008 | 0.050 | 0.012 | −0.013 | 0.036 |
| Carer & Employment Status | ||||||
| Employed - works 35h hours a week (Reference group) | ||||||
| Employed - works less than 35 h a week | 0.100 | −0.835 | 1.036 | −0.312 | −1.195 | 0.571 |
| Unemployed, retired, home duties, students & others | 0.057 | −0.846 | 0.961 | −0.291 | −1.184 | 0.602 |
| Carer & Alcohol drinking status | ||||||
| Never drink/No longer drink (Reference group) | ||||||
| Drink only rarely & 1 to 2 standard drinks | 0.279 | −0.791 | 1.349 | 0.717 | −0.331 | 1.766 |
| Drink only rarely & 3 to 4 standard drinks | 2.165** | 0.234 | 4.096 | 1.922* | −0.132 | 3.977 |
| Drink only rarely & 5 and more standard drinks | −0.577 | −3.043 | 1.890 | −0.338 | −2.866 | 2.190 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 1 to 2 standard drinks | −0.135 | −1.603 | 1.334 | 0.020 | −1.461 | 1.500 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 3 to 4 standard drinks | 2.389** | 0.435 | 4.342 | 2.073* | −0.032 | 4.178 |
| Drink 2/3 days per month & 5 and more standard drinks | −0.299 | −2.747 | 2.149 | 0.465 | −1.699 | 2.630 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 1 to 2 standard drinks | 0.462 | −0.857 | 1.783 | −0.222 | −1.545 | 1.101 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 3 to 4 standard drinks | 1.028 | −0.778 | 2.835 | −0.375 | −2.101 | 1.350 |
| Drink 1/2 days per week & 5 and more standard drinks | −1.144 | −3.222 | 0.935 | 0.679 | −1.612 | 2.970 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 1 to 2 standard drinks | −0.237 | −1.401 | 0.926 | 0.347 | −0.847 | 1.540 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 3 to 4 standard drinks | 0.340 | −1.065 | 1.746 | 1.091 | −0.273 | 2.455 |
| Drink 3 or more days per week & 5 and more standard drinks | 0.653 | −1.168 | 2.475 | 0.958 | −0.716 | 2.632 |
| Carer & How often participate in Physical Activities? | ||||||
| Not at all (Reference group) | ||||||
| Less than once a week | 0.419 | −0.766 | 1.605 | −0.085 | −1.182 | 1.012 |
| 1 to 2 times a week | 1.050* | −0.092 | 2.191 | 0.502 | −0.584 | 1.589 |
| 3 times a week | 1.273** | 0.069 | 2.477 | 0.346 | −0.817 | 1.509 |
| More than 3 times a week | 1.005* | −0.137 | 2.147 | 0.073 | −1.037 | 1.182 |
| Carer & How often get together socially with friends/relatives? | ||||||
| Every Day | −1.529 | −3.812 | 0.753 | −1.016 | −3.363 | 1.332 |
| Several times a week | 0.498 | −1.032 | 2.027 | 0.633 | −0.774 | 2.041 |
| About once a week | −0.009 | −1.480 | 1.462 | 0.289 | −1.066 | 1.644 |
| 1 to 3 times a month | 0.110 | −1.312 | 1.532 | 0.453 | −0.877 | 1.782 |
| 1 or 2 times every 3 months | 1.176 | −0.500 | 2.853 | 0.633 | −0.932 | 2.199 |
| Less often than once every 3 months (Reference group) | ||||||
| Carer & Smoking Status | ||||||
| Never smoked/No longer smoke (Reference group) | ||||||
| Smoke less often than weekly | −1.820 | −4.439 | 0.799 | 0.525 | −2.155 | 3.204 |
| Smoke at least weekly (but not daily) | −1.348 | −4.176 | 1.480 | 0.056 | −2.913 | 3.025 |
| Smoke daily | 0.660 | −0.522 | 1.843 | −0.382 | −1.466 | 0.702 |
| Other Overall Control Variables: effect for the whole sample | ||||||
| Standardized Household financial year gross total income ($) | 0.195*** | 0.091 | 0.298 | 0.129*** | 0.031 | 0.227 |
| Life events in past year: Serious personal injury/illness | −3.713*** | −4.025 | −3.401 | −6.182*** | −6.518 | −5.846 |
| Time spent (hrs/mins) per week Volunteer/Charity work | 0.026* | −0.002 | 0.054 | 0.017 | −0.015 | 0.049 |
| Number of cigarettes usually smoked each week/10 | −0.037 | −0.085 | 0.011 | −0.050** | − 0.096 | −0.005 |
Notes. All the p-values have been replaced by stars and categorised as follows. ***: p < 0.01; **: p < 0.05; *: p < 0.1; However, confidence intervals use the usual 95% confidence level. The first row presents the impact of Carer Status on SF36 mental health and general health outcomes of individuals over time. The following section titled Effects on Non-Carer Status: main terms, presents the estimates of individual characteristics such as their age and caregiving time and the impact of their health behaviours (physical activity level, smoking and drinking level), employment status and level of social engagement on their self-assessed health status when they were non-carers. The next section titled Differences in Carer versus Non-carer Status: interaction terms, presents the non-carer and carer status differential estimates (the carer status has been interacted with other characteristics to estimate the magnitude of these differentials). Therefore, for each variable with both main and interaction terms in the model, the effect associated with carer status is given by the sum of both the non-carer status effect and the differential effects. The last section titled Other Overall Control Variables: effect for the whole sample presents the effects of characteristics associated to the whole sample (effects assumed to be the same in both non-care and carer groups)