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Health Effects in Significant Others

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Bobinac
  • N. Job A. van Exel
  • Frans F. H. Rutten
  • Werner B. F. Brouwer

Abstract

Background . Changes in the health of patients may affect the health of so-called “significant others†in 2 distinct ways. First, an individual may provide informal care to the patient and be burdened by the process of care giving. We label this indirect effect of a patient’s health on the health of the care giver the “care-giving effect.†Second, a person may suffer from health losses because someone in his or her social environment is ill, regardless of his or her care-giving status. The health of the patient then directly affects the health of this significant other, which we label the “family effect.†Methods . We investigate the occurrence of the family and care-giving effect in a convenience sample of Dutch care givers ( n = 751). The family effect was approximated by the health status of the patient (measured on EuroQol-VAS), and the care-giving effect by the number of the care-giving tasks was provided. It was assumed that care givers’ health is positively associated with patients’ health, that is, the family effect, and negatively associated with care-giving burden, that is, the care-giving effect. Relationships are studied using multivariate regressions. Results . Our results support the existence of both types of health effects. The analysis shows that the 2 effects are separable and independently associated with the health of care givers. Not accounting for the family effect conflates the care-giving effect. Conclusions . If the goal of health care policy is to optimize health, all important effects should be captured. The scope of economic evaluations should also include health effects in significant others. This study suggests that significant others include both care givers and broader groups of affected individuals, such as family members.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Bobinac & N. Job A. van Exel & Frans F. H. Rutten & Werner B. F. Brouwer, 2011. "Health Effects in Significant Others," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 31(2), pages 292-298, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:31:y:2011:i:2:p:292-298
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X10374212
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sandrine Juin, 2016. "Care for dependent elderly people : dealing with health and financing issues," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph16-02 edited by Thomas Barnay.
    2. S. Wouters & N. Exel & M. Donk & K. Rohde & W. Brouwer, 2015. "Do people desire to be healthier than other people? A short note on positional concerns for health," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(1), pages 47-54, January.
    3. Hareth Al-Janabi & Andrea Manca & Joanna Coast, 2017. "Predicting carer health effects for use in economic evaluation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Becky Pennington & Jack Eaton & Anthony J Hatswell & Helen Taylor, 2022. "Carers’ Health-Related Quality of Life in Global Health Technology Assessment: Guidance, Case Studies and Recommendations," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 40(9), pages 837-850, September.
    5. Hareth Al‐Janabi & Job Van Exel & Werner Brouwer & Caroline Trotter & Linda Glennie & Laurie Hannigan & Joanna Coast, 2016. "Measuring Health Spillovers for Economic Evaluation: A Case Study in Meningitis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(12), pages 1529-1544, December.
    6. Sandrine Juin, 2019. "Formal home care, informal support and caregiver health: should other people care?," Erudite Working Paper 2019-21, Erudite.
    7. Gulay Avsar & Roger Ham & W. Kathy Tannous, 2017. "Modelling Gender Differences in the Economic and Social Influences of Obesity in Australian Young People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-12, March.
    8. Henry, Edward & Cullinan, John, 2021. "Mental health spillovers from serious family illness: Doubly robust estimation using EQ-5D-5L population normative data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    9. Petra Baji & Dominik Golicki & Valentina Prevolnik-Rupel & Werner B. F. Brouwer & Zsombor Zrubka & László Gulácsi & Márta Péntek, 2019. "The burden of informal caregiving in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia: results from national representative surveys," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(1), pages 5-16, June.

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