Abstract
To characterize the elderly with cognitive déficit, and family caregivers who live in the urban communit,y and to identify the caregiver burden. METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional study, conducted between January and July 2009. Seventy elderly (aged 65 and older) were assessed for cognitive deficit using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE); their 70 caregivers were evaluated by the Zarit Burden Scale (ZBS) and the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ). The data were entered and validated by double entry in the MS Excel Program, and were analyzed using SPSS software, version 15.0. RESULTS: Of the caregivers, 47.1% were children. We obtained a mean for the ZBS of 30.3 (± 17.3) and 6.2 (± 3.2) for the SRQ, p <0.05, correlating lower scores of the MMSE with high scores on ZBS and SRQ. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive deficit of the elderly was a predictive factor for burden and emotional distress of caregivers. Knowing the reduction of cognitive capacity related to caregiver burden is essential for preserving caregiver health.
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