LAUSR

PURPOSE To examine caregiving relationships for older adults with vision impairment (VI) DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with a nationally representative sample METHODS: Setting: The National Health and Aging Trends Study linked to the National Study of Caregiving, Year 2011 STUDY POPULATION: 1,776 family/unpaid caregivers to community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries age ≥65 years Main Outcome Measure(s): In the preceding month, the number of: (1) hours of care provided, (2) valued activities affected by caregiving, and (3) odds of experiencing substantial emotional, (4) financial, and (5) physical difficulty related to providing care EXPOSURE: VI defined as report of blindness or difficulty with distance or near vision RESULTS: Among 1,776 caregivers, 428 spent an average of 111 (SE=9.1) hours per month assisting older adults with VI, while 1,348 spent an average of 72 (SE=3.3) hours assisting older adults without VI. In fully adjusted negative binomial regression analyses, caregivers of older adults with VI spent 36% more hours (Incident Rate Ratio [IRR]=1.36; 95%CI=1.15-1.60) providing care and reported having 61% more valued activities affected (IRR=1.61; 95%CI=1.23-2.10) than caregivers of older adults without VI. In fully adjusted logistic regression analyses, caregivers of older adults with VI had greater odds of emotional (Odds Ratio [OR]=1.46; 95%CI=1.04-2.03) but not financial (OR=1.33; 95%CI=0.87-2.03) or physical (OR=1.13; 95%CI=0.74-1.74) difficulty related to providing care than caregivers of older adults without VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Our results suggest that caring for older adults with VI has different demands on time and emotional well-being than caring for older adults without VI, but no differences in financial or physical difficulties.