ArticleJournal of multidisciplinary healthcare2026
Determinants of Spousal Loneliness Among Caregivers for Patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), the most severe form of diabetic retinopathy, imposes overwhelming caregiving demands on family caregivers, with spouses typically assuming the primary caregiving role. However, their psychosocial well-being, particularly loneliness-a major modifiable risk factor for adverse health outcomes-remains severely understudied. Guided by the relational model of stress, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of loneliness and identify its multilevel determinants among spousal caregivers of patients with PDR. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 239 spousal caregivers of PDR patients was recruited from four tertiary hospitals in Changsha, China, between March and August 2024. Participants completed validated standardized instruments measuring loneliness (6-item Short-Form UCLA Loneliness Scale, ULS-6), psychological resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC), dyadic coping (Dyadic Coping Inventory, DCI), and caregiver burden (Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, ZBI). Hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the independent associations of individual, environmental, and behavioral factors with loneliness. Results: The mean ULS-6 score was 14.89 ± 3.77, indicating a moderate level of loneliness among spousal caregivers; 10.0% reported severe loneliness. The final hierarchical regression model explained 41.6% of the variance in loneliness. Significant independent risk factors included severe patient cognitive impairment (β = 0.202, P = 0.004), longer disease duration (β = 0.177, P = 0.003), greater visual impairment (β = 0.349, P = 0.004), older caregiver age (β = 0.178, P = 0.011), living alone with the patient (β = 0.057, P = 0.008), poorer marital relationship quality (β = 0.355, P = 0.003), and higher caregiver burden (β = 0.242, P = 0.009). Conversely, higher psychological resilience (β = -0.217, P = 0.009) and more effective dyadic coping (β = -0.159, P < 0.001) were significant protective factors. Conclusion: Loneliness is highly prevalent among spousal caregivers of PDR patients, driven by a complex interplay of patient illness severity, caregiver demographics, environmental conditions, and modifiable psychosocial resources. Couple-centered interventions targeting dyadic coping enhancement and psychological resilience building may effectively reduce loneliness and improve the overall well-being of this vulnerable caregiver population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.