The Relation of Pain and Caregiver Burden in Informal Older Adult Caregivers

Abstract

Pain in older adults is highly prevalent and although informal caregiving is commonly provided by an older cohort, the relationship between pain and caregiving has seldom been examined. Our goal was to study the associations between caregiver pain, depression, and caregiver burden in a sample of older adult caregivers. Questionnaires were completed by 116 caregivers (mean age=73.34) to measure the caregivers' overall pain, chronic pain status, caregiver burden and its five dimensions, depression, and the care recipients' level of disability. Hierarchical linear regression analyses evaluated the extent to which care recipient and caregiver variables, including caregiver pain and depression, were related to high levels of caregiver burden. The overall level of pain reported by the caregiver was a significant predictor of overall caregiver burden and the emotional and physical dimensions of caregiver burden, whereas a number of care recipient variables (e.g., disability level) were significant predictors of the social, emotional, and time dependence dimensions of caregiver burden. This is the first study to investigate the relationships among caregiver pain and caregiver burden in informal older adult caregivers. We conclude that the role of caregiver pain has been greatly underestimated in the caregiver burden literature and suggest a need for interdisciplinary collaboration for effective management of caregiver burden in older adults.