Influence of Care Burden-related Factors on Mental Health and Quality of Life of the Caregivers of Dementia Patients

Purpose: To evaluate the care burden of the caregivers of dementia patients and the relationship between anxiety-depression risk and quality of life. Methods: This study was conducted with 152 primary caregivers of dementia patients by using “Caregiver Burden Inventory”(CBI), “Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale” (HADS) and “Short Version of the Quality of Life Assessment Instrument From the World Health Organization” (WHOQOL-BREF). Results: Mean age of the caregivers was 49.4±9.0 years; of them, 79.6% were females, 54.6% were graduates of elementary/secondary school. Mean age of dementia patients was 79.8±8.0 years; of them, 55.2% were females, 46.1% had advanced stage dementia and 30.9% had pressure ulcers. High care burden was detected in 101 (66.4%) caregivers, anxiety in 37 (24.3%) and depression in 109 (71.7%). The scores of HAD-A and HAD-D were significantly high (p=0.007, p=0.002) and WHOQOL-Bref score was significantly lower (p=0.001) in caregivers of the patients with pressure ulcers. Scores of CBI, HAD-A and HAD-D were found to significantly increase (p=0.005, p=0.042 and p=0.030, respectively) and WHOQOL-Bref score was found to significantly decrease (p=0.009) as stage of dementia increased. HAD-A and HAD-D scores were detected to increase (p=0.000, p=0.000) and WHOQOL-Bref score was detected to decrease (p=0.000) as CBI score increased. Conclusion: Dementia causes a high care burden for the caregivers. It is of vital importance to facilitate reaching professional support services for reducing care burden that increases with increasing stage, and establishing hospice care institutions for reducing the risk of mental disorders and for improving quality of life of the caregivers.