Use of Psychoactive Medications Among Informal Caregivers: A Register-Based Study on
Persons Living in Oulu, Finland, 2013
Abstract
Use of psychoactive medications can be considered an indicator of informal caregivers’ mental health and psychological distress. No comparable
research has previously been published in Finland. We investigated differences between the share of informal caregivers and others of the same age
who purchased psychoactive medications during the calendar year. We also looked at the health status of informal care recipients and the proportion who purchased psychoactive medications.
The study was based on registry data on persons living in Oulu in 2013. The data were analysed with descriptive statistical methods and logistic
regression analysis. The mean age of informal caregivers (N=1905) was 59 years. Sixty-two percent were women. One in four caregivers on average had purchased a psychoactive medication covered by the National Health Insurance scheme. Working-age informal caregivers (18 to 64 years) were most likely to have purchased antidepressive drugs (16%), while the most common category among elderly caregivers (65 to 95 years) was sleep medicine (18%). The share of persons who purchased psychoactive medications was higher among working-age informal caregivers than in the reference population (23% vs. 14%); no significant differences were observed among elderly caregivers.
Some gender differences were discovered when purchases of psychoactive medications in the four most common drug categories were analysed
more closely: among male working-age caregivers, the odds ratio of purchasing sleep medicines was 1.4 compared with the reference population,
while the odds ratio of antidepressive medication purchases by female caregivers was 1.2. The use of antipsychotic drugs was lower among female
caregivers than in the reference population: the odds ratios for working-age women and elderly women were 0.8 and 0.6, respectively. The mean
age of informal care recipients was 60 years, and 13 percent of the elderly recipients died in 2013. Every other informal care recipient had purchased psychoactive medications.
Because informal care relationships typically last many years, it is important that those working or interacting with informal caregivers should pay attention to their psychological well-being. Supportive services and arrangements, including the psychological support of informal caregivers, should be developed further.
Authors
Lauri Virta, Päivi Tillman, Jenni Blomgren
Additional Information
- Peer-Reviewed: yes.
- Open Access: no.
- Cite as: Virta, L. J., Tillman, P., & Blomgren, J. (2019). Rekisteritutkimus psyykenlääkkeiden käytön yleisyydestä oululaisilla omaishoitajilla vuonna 2013. Sosiaalilääketieteellinen Aikakauslehti, 56(3), 204-215. https://doi.org/10.23990/sa.76290
