The Quality Of Life And Its Influencing Factors Of The Caregivers Of Disabled Elderly In Rural Areas

ObjectiveTo investigate the quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas,and to understand the relationship between the quality of life,social support,family function and care burden and explore the influence factors of the rural disabled elderly caregivers’ quality of life.It’s aim to provide theoretical basis for the government for improving the quality of care for the disabled elderly and the quality of life of the caregivers.MethodsBy using the cross-sectional survey method multi-stage random cluster sampling method,twenty-five villages that belong to Kaifeng were extracted and totally 392 caregivers of disabled elderly were selected.The tools include the general information questionnaire,the Mos 36-item Short Form Health Survey,Social Support-Rating Scale,family APGAR and Caregiver Burden Inventory.A total of 375 valid questionnaires were collected.The data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science(SPSS)17.0 software.Descriptive analysis,T-test,ANOVA,Pearson’s correlation analysis and multiple linear stepwise regressions were employed.Results1 The present situation of quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areasThe total score of quality of life was(67.09±13.44),and the score of physiological field was(66.89±15.76),and the score of psychological field was(67.29±14.26).The quality of life of the caregivers was lower than norm value(77.00±17.42)and the difference has statistical significance(P<0.001).2 The univariate analysis of quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areasThe results of univariate analysis showed that the caregivers’ gender,age,chronic diseases,family income,education level,daily care time,Assisted care,role relationship,living style and disability degree of the elder,emotional state of the elder were the influential factors of quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas(P<0.05).3 The present situation of social support,family function and care burden of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areasThe total score of social support was(35.79±5.60),while 130 cases(34.1%)received low level social support,189 cases(50.4%)received general level social support,56 cases(14.9%)received high level social support.The total score of family function was(5.52±2.34),while 105 case(28.0%)with good family function,191 case(50.9%)with mild disorder family function,79 case(21.1%)with serious disorder family function.The total score of care burden was(31.43±13.03),the mean scores of every domain of care burden ranging from the highest to the lowest were Time-dependent burden(1.97±0.87),Physiological burden(1.84±0.96),Developmental limited burden(1.66±0.85),Social burden(0.85±0.62),Emotional burden(0.43±0.39).4 Correlation analysis between quality of life,social support,family function and burden of carePearson correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between social support and quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas.The correlation score was r=0.258,P<0.01.There was a positive correlation between family function and quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas.The correlation score was r=0.403,P<0.01.And there was a significant negative correlation between care burden and quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas.The correlation score was r=-0.631,P<0.01.5 The multiple linear regression analysis of quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areasWith the quality of life as the dependent variable,significant variables of univariate analysis and the social support,family function and the care burden as the independent variables,to make multiple linear regression analysis.The final factors included caregivers’ age,care burden,social support and family function(P<0.05).Conclusions1 The quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural is at a low level.2 The quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural is positively correlated with social support and family function,but negatively correlated with care burden.3 Care burden,caregivers’ age,social support and family function are the significant factors affecting the quality of life of the caregivers of disabled elderly in rural areas.Therefore,we should strengthen the social support,reduce the care burden and improve the family function,so as to improve the quality of life and the quality of care for the disabled.