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

Objective.  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 s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) Mass.), 2011-01, Vol.12 (1), p.51-58
Main Authors: Jones, Shannon L., Hadjistavropoulos, Heather D., Janzen, Jennifer A., Hadjistavropoulos, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Caregiver Burden
Caregiver Pain
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
Chronic Disease
Cost of Illness
Depression
Depression - epidemiology
Depression - psychology
Disability Evaluation
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Older Adults
Older people
Pain
Pain - psychology
Pain Measurement
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
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Summary:Objective.  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. Design.  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. Results.  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. Conclusions.  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.
ISSN:1526-2375
1526-4637
DOI:10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.01018.x