Financial stress experienced by informal carers of adults with a chronic disease: Results from an Australian population-based cross-sectional survey

Objective: To identify caregiving characteristics that are associated with financial stress in Australian carers of people with a chronic disease.

Methods: Data were collected via the South Australian Health Omnibus, an annual population-based, cross-sectional survey. Individuals who provided care to someone with prevalent chronic conditions were asked about financial stress and caregiving characteristics.

Results: Of 32.4% (988/3047) who were carers, 13.4% (132/988) experienced financial stress. Adjusting for age and household income, providing more than 20 hours of care per week (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.48-3.86), transport assistance (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.15-3.09) and assistance with household tasks (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.14-3.26) and caring for a person with a mental illness (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.24-3.28) were associated with a significant increase in odds of experiencing financial stress. Caring for a person with cancer (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.30-0.81) or dementia (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.21-0.76) was associated with decrease in odds.

Conclusions: Financial stress was reported by more than 13% of carers, and factors other than household income were implicated.