Grandparents who babysit 'tend to live longer'

Conclusion This prospective cohort study aimed to assess whether caregiving by grandparents within and beyond the family is associated with a longer life expectancy. The researchers found that all participants involved in care of grandchildren, providing help to adult children and / or those helping others in their social network had a lower risk of dying during follow-up than non-helpers. However, the study does have some limitations: observational studies are not able to prove cause and effect. We can't say from these findings that the provision of care is directly responsible for a longer life the researchers have attempted to adjust for a number of health and socio-demographic factors that could be influencing the results. But the number of variables that could be having an effect is potentially vast. Accounting for all contributing factors may have altered the findings the cause of death and the participants' physical and mental health and wellbeing have not been explored in great depth there is a risk of recall bias as data was collected during two yearly interviews and participants may not accurately remember the level of care provided this is a relatively small sample of people – and they are also all from one region of Germany. Other results may be obtained with a different sample This study provides some evidence for a link between caregiving and increased life expectancy, however it is not able to pinpoint what causes the increase. Further resea...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Older people Pregnancy/child Source Type: news