Individual Quality of Life Factors Distinguishing Low-Burden and High-Burden Caregivers of Dementia Patients

Dementia patient (n = 72) and caregiver characteristics and individual quality of life (IQoL) factors distinguishing low- and high-burden caregivers were evaluated. Measures included patient cognitive, functional and behavioural status, and caregiver burden, well-being, social support appraisal and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders 2002-01, Vol.13 (3), p.164-170
Main Authors: Coen, Robert F., O’Boyle, Ciaran A., Coakley, Davis, Lawlor, Brian A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Caregivers - psychology
Caregivers - statistics & numerical data
Cost of Illness
Dementia
Dementia - psychology
Family Health
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Nervous system as a whole
Neurology
Original Research Article
Quality of Life
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Summary:Dementia patient (n = 72) and caregiver characteristics and individual quality of life (IQoL) factors distinguishing low- and high-burden caregivers were evaluated. Measures included patient cognitive, functional and behavioural status, and caregiver burden, well-being, social support appraisal and IQoL. The caregivers were divided by median split into low- and high-burden groups. In the high-burden group daughters were over-represented, psychological morbidity was higher, QoL was lower, the patients were more behaviourally disturbed, and there was a trend towards more negative appraisal of informal social support. Of the many QoL factors elicited from caregivers, only ‘time for self’ and ‘finances’ differed significantly between the groups. A need for more time away from the patient is a major QoL concern for highly burdened caregivers, and a perceived lack of adequate informal support and/or financial constraints are contributory factors.
ISSN:1420-8008
1421-9824
DOI:10.1159/000048648