Correlation of the health status and care burden of family caregivers for elderly

Abstract

Objective To explore the health status of family caregivers for elderly and the correlation with the care burden.Methods One thousand five hundred and seventeen patients were surveyed by the Zarit’s caregiver burden scale , demographic data and health status , and the burden status of different family caregivers for the elderly was analyzed .Results The percent of the family caregivers for the elderly with the definite diagnosis of disease was 61.0% （926/1 517）, and the percent of caregivers with self-sensation uncomfortable was 77.5%,＆amp;nbsp;and the percent of caregivers with a low self-health evaluation was 10.8%.The percents of mild , moderate and severe care burden in 926 family caregivers for the elderly with the definite diagnosis of disease were respectively 35.3%,18.5%,4.4%, and were higher than 31.5%,10.7%,2.7% in the caregivers without the definite diagnosis of disease, and the difference was statistically significant （Z=-5.632,P〈0.01）.The percents of mild, moderate and severe care burden in the family caregivers for the elderly with self-sensation uncomfortable were respectively 35.7%,16.7%,4.4%, and were higher than 27.5%,11.1%,1.5% in the caregivers without the symptoms, and the difference was statistically significant （Z=-5.573,P〈0.01）.No difference was found in the mild , moderate and severe care burden in the family caregivers for the elderly with the difference level of health evaluation （P〉0.05）.Conclusions The family caregivers for the elderly in poor health status bear the heavy burden of care , and the caregivers should pay more attention to their health status , and provide the related knowledge and skills , and alleviate the nursing pressure . Key words: Elderly; Health status; Family caregiver; Burden