Lifestyle and health behaviors among female family dementia caregivers: a comparison of wives and daughters

This study was conducted to describe lifestyle and health behaviors among caregivers (N = 108) of persons with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia and to compare the lifestyle and health behaviors of wives (n = 57) and daughters (n = 51). In general, caregivers were similar to population norms in their age group. However, caregivers in this sample were more likely to consume alcohol, but consumed less per day than their peers. Forty-eight per cent of the sample exercised regularly. Chi-square analysis of wives and daughters revealed only that daughters were more likely to smoke than wives. The two groups appeared similar on all other health behaviors of interest (i.e. medication use, alcohol consumption or exercise habits). The need for continued research including samples of less advantaged caregivers is discussed.