Gender differences in cardiovascular response to dementia caregiving.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined gender differences in cardiovascular responses to laboratory-based stress, as well as in ambulatory hemodynamic (i.e., blood pressure and heart rate) functioning among caregivers of persons with dementia.


METHODS
Participants were 25 men and 25 women caregivers, matched on age, type of care recipient's dementia, and relationship to the care recipient. After cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based caregiving stressor was assessed, the ambulatory hemodynamic functioning levels of caregivers were measured in caregivers' natural environments.


RESULTS
Female caregivers displayed greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to a laboratory-based stress task (i.e., discussing caregiving difficulties) compared with male caregivers (p < or =.01). In contrast, no gender differences were found for ambulatory hemodynamic functioning when aggregated overall or when in the presence of the care recipient.


CONCLUSIONS
Laboratory-based findings suggest that female caregivers experience greater blood pressure reactivity to caregiving-related stress than do male caregivers. However, these laboratory-based gender differences may not generalize to differences in hemodynamic functioning in caregivers' daily lives.
Atienza
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AA
Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, 730 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-2583, USA. audie.atienza@stanford.edu
Henderson
P C
PC
Wilcox
S
S
King
A C
AC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D001794:Blood Pressure; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*