The Level of Burden among Caregivers of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease in Saudi Arabia

Caregiver burden is a serious global issue associated with the growing number of older adult patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD patients become more dependent on their caregivers and require assistance with basic daily life activities. This study aims to measure the caregiver burden of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2023-02, Vol.20 (4), p.2864
Main Authors: Badawoud, Amal Mohammad, AlQadheeb, Yasmin K, AlZahrani, Shahad S, AlGhamdi, Razan A, Alanazi, Elaf A, AlFozan, Sarah M, AlJafer, Norah S, Asiri, Ibrahim M, Alotaibi, Fawaz M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising executives
Aged
Aging
Alzheimer's disease
Caregivers
Coping
Data collection
Dementia
Knowledge
Older people
Patients
Population
Quality of life
Questionnaires
Surveys
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Caregiver burden is a serious global issue associated with the growing number of older adult patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD patients become more dependent on their caregivers and require assistance with basic daily life activities. This study aims to measure the caregiver burden of informal caregivers of AD patients and to determine their characteristics. In addition, it intends to understand caregiver coping techniques and assess their medication knowledge. This was a cross-sectional study including 148 informal caregivers mainly recruited by the Saudi Alzheimer's Disease Association (SADA). A four-part study questionnaire was used for data collection in the Arabic Language and included the following: socio-demographic characteristics of AD patients and their caregivers, the 12-item version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and adapted questions on coping techniques and medication knowledge. A total of 148 caregivers (62% were female) participated in this study, and 79.06% were between 30 and 60 years old. The ZBI average score was 27, indicating a moderate to high burden. Caregivers reported their need for services to improve their quality of life. The medication knowledge was insufficient in most aspects except that more than half were aware of medications' side effects. Our study revealed that the average burden among informal caregivers of AD patients was moderate-high.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph20042864