Introduction
Caregiver burnout is a critical issue facing aging societies, characterized by emotional exhaustion, psychological distress, and reduced quality of life among informal caregivers. Prior evidence suggests women may be more vulnerable to caregiving-related stress due to gendered caregiving roles and expectations, yet comprehensive analyses using nationally representative data are limited.
Purpose
The objective is to determine whether female caregivers are disproportionately burdened and to quantify the magnitude of this disparity.
Method
Data from the 2022 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used. Informal caregivers were identified by whether respondents reported providing 100 or more hours of help to a parent or in-law with basic personal care activities in the past two years. Caregiver burnout was defined as meeting either of two conditions: providing 20 or more hours of care per week or exhibiting elevated depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥ 4). Survey-weighted logistic regression models were applied to examine the association between sex and burnout, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, and health status.
Results
A total of 3,321,381 caregivers were included after weighing, of whom 51.45% were experiencing burnout. Compared to those without burnout, caregivers with burnout were more likely to be female (70.51% vs. 56.88%, P = 0.043). Unadjusted model showed that female caregivers were 81.30% more likely to experience burnout compared to male caregivers (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.01-3.26). After adjusting, the results showed that female caregivers were 91.30% more likely to experience burnout compared to male caregivers (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.04-3.53).
Conclusions
These findings reveal a significant sex disparity in caregiver burnout, with female caregivers facing notably higher risk than males. Targeted interventions and gender-sensitive support strategies are urgently needed to address this inequality and improve the well-being of informal caregivers in aging populations.