The Burden on Caregivers of the Elderly to Care for Patients with Nervous System Diseases

Introduction. Previous studies have shown that the level of care burden depends primarily on the mental state and functional ability of patients, i.e. on factors on the patient’s part. Other reports point to factors also related to the caregiver. Aim. The aim of the study was to analyse the impact of selected factors on the burden on informal caregivers in caring for geriatric patients with nervous system diseases. Material and Methods. The research was conducted at the Geriatrics Clinic of the University Hospital no. 1 of Dr A. Jurasz in Bydgoszcz on a group of 117 informal caregivers and 117 patients with nervous system diseases under their care at home. The prospective studies used survey techniques as well as observation and measurement. The Negative Impact of Care Scale (NIC) included in the COPE-index was used to assess the caregiver’s burden with care. The Barthel scale and Lawton’s IADL scale were used to assess patients’ deficits in basic activities of daily living. To assess the intensity of depression symptoms in older people, the Geriatric Depression Scale — GDS was used. Results. The socio-demographic factors determining caregiver burden (NIC) include: caregiver’s age (p=0.00), place of care (p=0.03), caregiver’s self-assessment of health (p=0.00) and experience in providing care (p=0.03). However, there was no significant (p>0.05) impact of variables such as gender, place of residence, marital status, caregiver’s education and degree of relationship with the patient on the burden of care. The analysis also showed that caregivers feel a negative overload in connection with caring for a patient with a functional impairment (BI and IADL p=0.01) and with vascular disease and dementia (p=0.01). Conclusions. More than half of the surveyed caregivers show a high degree of burden in caring for geriatric patients with nervous system diseases. Caregiver burden is determined by the following factors: the age of the caregiver, the place of care, the caregiver’s self-assessment of health and the experience of providing care. Caregivers feel a negative overload due to caring for patients with functional deficits, vascular disease and dementia. (JNNN 2023;12(2):84–91)