Caregiver status: a simple marker to identify cardiac surgery patients at risk for longer postoperative length of stay, rehospitalization, or death.

Background: Patients who have undergone cardiac surgery, especially those with greater comorbidities, may be cared for by family members or paid aides.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between having a caregiver among patients who underwent cardiac surgery and clinical outcomes at 1 year. We hypothesized that patients with a caregiver would have longer lengths of stay and higher rehospitalization or death rates 1 year after surgery.

Patterns of caregiving among patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease.

Background And Objectives: Cardiac caregivers may represent a novel low-cost strategy to improve patient adherence to medical follow-up and guidelines and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Prior work on caregiving has been conducted primarily in mental health and cancer research; few data have systematically evaluated caregivers of cardiac patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patterns of caregiving and characteristics of caregivers among hospitalized patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) to assess disparities in caregiver burden and to determine the potential for caregivers to impact clinical outcomes.