Caregiving and Caregiver Health 1 Year into the COVID-19 Pandemic (CUIDAR-SE Study): A Gender Analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of informal care and shown that women continue to shoulder the brunt of responsibilities in this area. In this study, we analyzed differences in caregiving and self-perceived health in a group of informal male and female caregivers 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic. We performed a cross-sectional survey of 261 informal caregivers (165 women and 96 men) in two regions of Spain using computer-assisted telephone interviewing between February and April 2021. We performed descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses to calculate the odds of poor self-perceived health according to different caregiver, care recipient, and caregiving characteristics. We also analyzed the perceived effects of the pandemic on caregiving, caregiver health, and other aspects of life. Compared with male caregivers, female caregivers were more likely to experience increases in caregiving intensity and burden and a decline in self-perceived health as a result of the pandemic. Men providing high-intensity care, however, also reported deteriorated health. Men experienced fewer reductions in informal support, a factor that exerted a protective health effect. Women, by contrast, experienced a reduction in all support systems and in this case, a third-level education exerted a protective effect. Our results provide key insights that should be taken into account to design gender-based interventions aimed at supporting already stretched and burdened caregivers. A greater sharing of responsibilities and more resources are needed.

[Personal support networks and informal care: differences by sex and place? (CUIDAR-SE II study)]. / Redes personales de apoyo y cuidado informal: ¿diferencias por sexo y territorio? (estudio CUIDAR-SE II).

OBJECTIVE: To compare the composition and functionality of social support of personal networks of caregivers of Granada and Gipuzkoa (Spain) according to sex and province. METHOD: Cross-sectional study with personal network analysis methodology. A sample of 66 caregivers segmented by sex in each province was selected. We collected variables of composition, functional and relational content in social support of 1,650 personal relationships of the networks studied. The EgoNet software was used for the collection, analysis and graphic representation of the networks. The association of the characteristics of the network with sex (of the caregivers and those who make up their networks) was measured, using Chi-square. The links within the networks were analyzed. RESULTS: The networks of caregivers in Granada are more feminized than those in Gipuzkoa. The women of Gipuzkoa have less familiar networks than those of Granada and with a greater number of relationships among the people who support them. They also have more support from men than women in all the tasks analyzed, except in attention to the disease. In both provinces, male caregivers show in their networks more women who help in specific care tasks than men. Only in activities outside the home in Granada there are more men who help than women (76.1% vs. 57%; p=0.026). CONCLUSION: Gender differences between provinces can be seen in the composition of the networks and in the way in which men and women receive and offer support in care.

Pefil de la población examinada para anticuerpos al HIV, CLETS, 1986 / Profile of the people examinated for antibodies to HIV CLETS, 1986

Un total de 135 personas que solicitaron realizarse la aprueba de detección de anticuerpos al HIV en el Centro Latinoamericano de Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (CLETS) durante los meses de febrero a abril de 1986, fueron entrevistados con el propósito de conocer los factores de riesgo asociados al SIDA en dicha población y su relación con el resultado obtenido en la prueba, KIT VIRGO TM HIV ELISA, asi como la prevalencia de anticuerpos al HIV. La mayoria de la población fueron hombres jóvenes homosexuales, nacidos en Puerto Rico. El porciento global de seropositividad fue 39.2%, 53.8% de las mujeres entrevistadas y un 39.7% de los hombres. Los drogadictos presentaron el mayor número de factores de riesgo para el SIDA y obtuvieron el mayor porciento de seropositividad (49%). El 51.8% de la población se realizó la prueba por curiosidad o preocupación,pero el porciento mayor de seropositividad fue para el grupo que se realizó la prueba por presentar síntomas asociados al SIDA. El 43% de los examinados no acudió a recoger el resultado de la prueba