{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T18:57:53Z","timestamp":1782845873227,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Interact J Med Res"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a common, chronic neurological condition that severely affects individuals by causing a range of disabling symptoms, frequently at a time around the peak of their careers. Subsequently, individuals with DCM often become dependent on informal care arrangements. The significant economic contribution of informal care and its burden on care providers are becoming increasingly recognized.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to measure the quality of life of DCM informal caregivers and provide preliminary insight into possible contributing factors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Carers of individuals with DCM completed a Web-based survey hosted by Myelopathy.org, an international DCM charity. Carer quality of life was assessed in the form of caregiver happiness and 7 dimensions of carer burden using the Care-Related Quality of Life (CarerQol) instrument. The relationships between patient disease severity, patient pain, and carer quality of life were investigated. Differences in carer quality of life were assessed across patient and carer demographic groups, including between UK and US carers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>DCM caregivers experienced substantial burden as a result of their caregiving (mean CarerQol-7D=64.1; 95% CI 58.8-69.5) and low happiness (mean CarerQol-VAS [Visual Analog Scale]=6.3; 95% CI 5.7-6.9). Burden was high and happiness was low in DCM carers when compared with a large, mixed-disease study of adult informal carers where CarerQol-7D was 79.1 and CarerQol-VAS was 7.1. No significant relationship was found between DCM carer quality of life and patient disease severity and pain scores. DCM carer quality of life appeared uniform across all patient and carer demographic groups.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Caring for individuals with DCM is associated with reduced quality of life in the form of significant burden and reduced happiness. Reductions appear greater in DCM than in other diseases investigated. However, no simple relationship was identified between individual patient or carer factors and carer quality of life.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/12381","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,19]],"date-time":"2019-07-19T16:34:50Z","timestamp":1563554090000},"page":"e12381","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":32,"title":["Quality of Life Among Informal Caregivers of Patients With Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6788-745X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oliver Daniel","family":"Mowforth","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0591-5069","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Benjamin Marshall","family":"Davies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5145-7199","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mark Reinhard","family":"Kotter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.k186"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/BRS.0000000000000913"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/BRS.0000000000001842"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2106\/JBJS.L.00589"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/BRS.0000000000000988"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wneu.2016.12.124"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1586\/14737167.8.6.557"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.282.23.2215"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10834-007-9081-8"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.sc.3101704"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/gps.2439"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2013.07.039"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ymgme.2013.07.020"},{"key":"ref14","unstructured":"Carers UK20082018-06-21Carers Can't Afford to Be Ill https:\/\/www.carersuk.org\/news-and-campaigns\/news\/carers-cant-afford-to-be-ill"},{"key":"ref15","year":"2009","journal-title":"Supporting Carers to Care: Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Session 2008-2009"},{"key":"ref16","unstructured":"SchulzRTompkinsCANational Center for Biotechnology Information20102019-06-03Informal Caregivers in the United States: Prevalence, Caregiver Characteristics, and Ability to Provide Carehttps:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK210048"},{"key":"ref17","unstructured":"BucknerLYeandleSThe University of Sheffield20152018-06-21Valuing Carers 2015 - 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