The burden of family caregivers caring for older adults and its relationshipwith some factors

Chronic diseases affect not only older adult sthemselves but also family caregivers.
This study was conducted to determine the care burdenin family caregivers caring for older adults. This cross-sectional study recruited 80 family caregivers of older adultsin Sabzevar in 2016. The data were collected using a demographic data questionnaire and caregiver burden scale completed by caregivers. SPSS software was used for data analysis.
The study findings showed that the majority of participants were women (72%) and daughters (42%) of older adults, illiterate (45%), housekeeper (72%), and mostly living with the older adult they cared for ( 68%). Seventy-three percent of caregivers had received no formal education for providing care.Meanwhile, 28% of them assessed their own health as poor, and claimed to suffer from mental disorders. Generally, mean score of care burden was 44.5. Care burden, was significantly related to duration of the disease (P=0.01), caregiver’s occupation (P=0.001), caregiver’s economic status (P=0.02), caregiver’srelation with the older adult (P=0.005), duration of caregiving (P=0.05) and cohabiting with the older adult (P=0.02).
Based on the findings, most family caregivers of older adults considered themselves as suffering from mental and physical disorders, were illiterate and had no formal training. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions be implemented to reduce caregiver burden due to the factors identified in the present study and that appropriate training be provided to caregivers.