The Research On Care Burden And Quality Of Life Among Family Caregivers Of Disabled Elderly

Objective The purpose of this study was to describe care burden and quality of life(QOL)of family caregivers of disabled elderly,to analyze the influencing factors of burden and to explore the relationship between caregiver burden and quality of life,and to provide the realistic basis for taking corresponding measures to reduce the burden of caregivers,to promote their physical and mental health,improve family care functions ultimately.Methods A cross-sectional design was used in this study.135 disabled elders and their family caregivers from the geriatric ward,neurology,oncology and other hospital departments in 2 3-A level hospitals of Hangzhou during December 2014 to June 2015 were investigated as disability group,and 135 non-disability elderly andtheir family caregivers were investigated as control group.General information,Zarit Burden Interview(ZBI),Short Form 36-item Short Health Survey(SF-36),Social Support Ratings Scale(SSRS)and General Self-Efficacy Scale(GSES)of the caregivers and general information and Barthel index scale(BI)of the elderly were used to assess the caregivers through face to face interview.The data were analyzed with software SPSS 17.0.Results ?The average level of burden of family caregivers of both groups were amoderate,the scores of total burden and individual burden and responsibility of disability group were higher than that of the control group(all P<0.01).Among them,the constituting ratio of the extent of burden in disability groups:no or mild 4.4%(6 cases),moderate 48.1%(65 cases)and severe 47.4%(64 cases),the constituting ratio were statistically different between the two groups(P<0.01);?Regression analysis showed that the main influencing factors of caregivers burden included care time,depression or anxiety symptom,subjective support,objective support level and self-efficacy level of the caregivers,degree of disability,the number of chronic diseases of the disabled elderly(R2=0.539,F=20.206,P<0.01).The burden of family caregivers of disabled elderly was positively related with their care time,depression or anxiety and degree of disability and the number of chronic diseases of the elderly.While it was negatively related with their subjective and objective support and self-efficacy;?Compared with the control group,the scores of physical health and mental health field of the disability group were lower(all P<0.01).The worst dimension of QOL of the disability group was found to be general health,followed by role-emotional,role-physical,vitality,social function,mental health,bodily pain and physical function.The difference was statistically significant among the other six dimensions except role-physical and mental health dimensions between the two groups(all P<0.05);?Pearson correlation analysis showed that the burden of family caregivers of disabled elderly was negatively related to the eight dimensions of their QOL(all P<0.05).Conclusion ?DThe average level of burden of family caregivers of disabled elderly was moderate,while most of caregivers' burden was in the moderate and severe level,and it was higher than that of family caregivers of non-disability elderly patients.?The care burden of family caregivers of disabled elderly was influenced by care time,depression or anxiety symptom,subjective support,objective support level and self-efficacy level of the caregivers,degree of disability,the number of chronic diseases of the disabled elderly.The level of burden of caregivers who provided long care hours,with depression or anxiety or low social support or low self-efficacy is higher.The more chronic diseases and severe degree of disability of the elderly suffering from,the higher burden their caregivers have.?The QOL of family caregivers of disabled elderly is impaired.The worst dimension of QOL was found to be general health,followed by role-emotional.The caregivers's role-emotional,vitality,soial function,bodily pain,physical function and general health were worse than that of family caregivers of non-disability elderly patients.?The QOL of family caregivers of disabled elderly was related to caregiver burden.The heavier burden that the caregivers bore,the poorer quality of life the caregivers had.Nurse and social worker should take corresponding measures to reduce the burden of caregivers,and improve the quality of family care function and their quality of life.