Here - American Geriatrics Society

P OSTER
A BSTRACTS
sess caregiver burden, the surviving spouse reported whether assistance
was provided with 6 ADLs and 4 IADLs in the last 3 months of
life. To assess change in depressive symptoms and health, we compared
CES-D (≥2 symptoms from the 8-item version) and self-rated
health (good or better) reported by the surviving spouse in the interview
waves before and after death.
Results: A total of 555 caregivers were women (mean age=70.6;
mean age of their deceased husbands=70.9) and 190 caregivers were
men (mean age=73.1; mean age of their deceased wives =75.1). Overall
the sample was 85% white, 12% African American, and 5% Hispanic.
For decedents, cancer was the leading reported cause of death
(41%). A majority (55%) of caregiver spouses provided help with
bathing, 53% with dressing, 43% with transferring, 38% with walking
37% with toileting, and 29% with eating. Assistance with IADLs was
also common: 54% helped with medications; 39% helped with meals;
29% helped with shopping; and 23% helped with phone calls. Men
and women did not differ in terms of the ADL tasks they performed,
but gender differences were observed with IADL assistance. Men
provided more help with meals (57% vs. 33%, p