Patterns of use of time by family caregivers of elderly persons with dementia

Carvalho, Elcyana Bezerra; Neri, Anita Liberalesso

doi:10.1590/1981-22562019022.180143

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

Revista Brasileira de Geriatria e Gerontologia

Español English

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

Original Articles • Rev. bras. geriatr. gerontol. 22 (01) • 2019 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-22562019022.180143 copy

Patterns of use of time by family caregivers of elderly persons with dementia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Objectives:

to describe patterns of use of time in family caregivers of elderly people with dementia, considering the characteristics of the caregivers, the care recipients and the context.

Method:

Fifty family caregivers of elderly people with intermediate and high levels of physical and cognitive disability participated in an interview about time spent on obligatory care activities over four periods of six hours during a 24-hour period. In addition, a questionnaire about social activities, scales of physical and cognitive functionality of the elderly and an inventory of burden in the family caregivers were applied.

Results:

88.0% of the caregivers were women, with a mean age of 57.9 (±11.2) years; 45.92% of the time of the caregivers was used in care activities, 36.92% in discretionary activities, 31.17% in recuperation, and 25.67% in the obligatory activities of the life of the caregiver. The greater the dependence, the longer the care, the less time for self-care and greater the caregivers’ subjective burden.

Conclusion:

The level of dependence of elderly persons affected by dementia results in an increase in caregiving time and competes with other activities performed by the caregiver. Reorganization of the use of time by family caregivers and provision of formal support can reduce the caregiving burden and benefit the well-being of caregivers.

Keywords:
Time; Caregivers; Dependency; Activities of Daily Living; Long-term Care. Alzheimer Disease

Universidade do Estado do Rio Janeiro Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524 - Bloco F, 20559-900 Rio de Janeiro - RJ Brasil, Tel.: (55 21) 2334-0168 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
E-mail: revistabgg@gmail.com

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Correspondence
Elcyana Bezerra Carvalho elcyana.b@gmail.com

Variables	Conditions	n (%)	Mean (standard deviation)
Gender	Male	6 (12.0)	----
	Female	44 (88.0)
Marital status	Married	22 (44.0)	----
	Single	19 (38.0)
	Divorced	6 (12.0)
	Widowed	3 (6.0)
Age	< 40-59	29 (58.0)	57.9 (±11.2)
	60-69	10 (20.0)
	70 years +	11 (22.0)
Years of schooling	1 to 4	2 (4.0)	11.6 (±3.7)
	5 to 8	9 (18.0)
	9 or more	39 (78.0)
Paid work	Yes	11 (22.4)	----
	No	38 (77.6)

Variables	Conditions	n (%)	Mean (sd)
Age of care recipients	60-69	6 (12.0)	79.6 (±7.5)
	70-79	18 (36.0)
	80 or more	26 (52.0)
Relationship between caregivers and care recipients	Spouse	16 (32.6)	----
	Parents	28 (57.2)
	Other relatives	5 (10.2)
Receive unpaid help	Yes	33 (66.0)	----
	No	17 (34.0)
Receive professional help	Yes	9 (18.0)	----
	No	41 (82.0)
Number of activities carried out by	0	1 (2.0)	2.9 (±1.7)
caregivers outside the home	1 to 3	34 (68.0)
	4 to 8	15 (30.0)
Pfeffer Scale scores of care recipients	< 22	11 (22.0)	25.3 (±6.9)
	23 to 29	23 (46.0)
	> 30	16 (32.0)
Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores of care recipients	< 9	11 (22.0)	2.0 (±0.8)
	10 to 15	25 (50.0)
	> 16	14 (28.0)
Perceived burden scores of caregivers	≤ 32	14 (28.0)	43.5 (±15.0)
	33-56	26 (52.0)
	≥ 57	10 (20,0)

Activities	Means* (sd)	Medians	Min-Max	p**
Over 24 hours
Obligatory care for the elderly	11.02 ^a (±3.60)	10.00	5.00-18.00	<0.001
Discretionary	8.86 ^b (±2.22)	9.00	3.00-15.00
Obligatory in caregiver's life	6.16 ^c (±4.93)	6.00	0.00-18.00
Recuperation	7.48 ^c (±1.58)	7.00	4.00-10.00
Morning
Obligatory care for the elderly	4.12 ^a (±1.69)	4.50	1.00-6.00	<0.001
Discretionary	2.54 ^b (±1.16)	2.00	0.00-5.00
Obligatory in caregiver's life	2.92 ^b (±2.19)	3.00	0.00-6.00
Recuperation	0.14 ^c (±0.35)	0.00	0.00-1.00
Evening
Obligatory care for the elderly	3.66 ^a (±1.73)	4.00	0.00-6.00	<0.001
Discretionary	2.48 ^c (±1.50)	2.00	0.00-6.00
Obligatory in caregiver's life	2.14 ^c (±2.21)	1.00	0.00-6.00
Recuperation	0.76 ^b (±0.69)	1.00	0.00-2.00
Night
Obligatory care for the elderly	2.66 ^a (±1.60)	3.00	0.00-6.00	<0.001
Discretionary	3.60 ^b (±1.20)	4.00	1.00-6.00
Obligatory in caregiver's life	1.10 ^c (±1.63)	0.50	0.00-6.00
Recuperation	1.32 ^c (±1.08)	1.00	0.00-4.00
Early Hours
Obligatory care for the elderly	0.58 ^b (±0.95)	0.00	0.00-4.00	<0.001
Discretionary	0.24 ^b (±0.62)	0.00	0.00-3.00
Recuperation	5.26 ^a (±1.16)	6.00	0.00-6.00
% of daily time
Obligatory care for the elderly	45.92 ^a (±15.00)	41.67	20.83-75.00	<0.001
Discretionary	36.92 ^b (±9.26)	37.50	12.50-62.50
Obligatory in caregiver's life	25.67 ^c (±20.54)	25.00	0.00-75.00
Recuperation	31.17 ^c (±6.59)	29.17	29.17-41.67

Variables/conditions	Activities x periods of the day	n	Mean (sd)	Median	p
Gender of caregiver
Male Female	Care of elderly person - Morning	6 44	2.17^b (±2.32) 3.86^a (±1.56)	2.00 4.00	0.045*
Paid work by the caregiver
Yes No	Care of elderly person - Morning	11 38	3.00^b (±1.73) 4.39^a (±1.55)	3.00 5.00	0.020*
Help from domestic worker or paid caregiver
Yes No	Obligatory activities in the life of the caregiver - Morning	9 41	1.00^b (±1.66) 3.34^a (±2.08)	0.00 4.00	0.005*
Relationship of caregiver with elderly care recipient
Spouse Father/Mother Other	Discretionary activities in the life of the caregiver - Afternoon	16 28 5	1.94^b (±1.24) 2.50^b (±1.40) 4.40^a (±1.52)	2.00 2.00 5.00	0.016^**
Spouse Father/Mother Other	Obligatory activities in the life of the caregiver - Morning	16 28 5	1.81^b (±2.17) 3.64^a (±1.91) 1.80^b (±2.00)	1.00 4.00 1.00	0.011^**
Spouse Father/Mother Other	Obligatory activities in the life of the caregiver - Afternoon	16 28 5	1.00^b (±1.63) 2.64^a (±2.18) 2.20^a.b (±2.68)	0.00 2.00 1.00	0.029^**
Spouse Father/Mother Other	Obligatory activities in the life of the caregiver - All	16 28 5	3.50^b (±3.92) 7.36^a (±4.46) 5.60^a.b (±5.68)	2.00 8.00 2.00	0.013^**
Pfeffer Scale Score
≤ 22 23-29 ≥ 30	Care of elderly person - Afternoon	11 23 16	2.36^b (±1.80) 3.96^a (±1.49) 4.13^a (±1.67)	2.00 4.00 4.00	0.029^**
22 23-29 ≥ 30	Care of elderly person - All	11 23 16	8.82^b (±4.19) 10.83^a.b(±3.24) 12.81^a (±2.86)	7.00 10.00 12.50	0.006^**
Score of elderly care recipient in Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR)
0.5-1.00 2.00 3.00	Care of elderly person - Afternoon	10 26 14	2.30^b (±1.83) 4.00^a (±1.47) 4.00^a (±1.75)	2.00 4.00 4.00	0.030^**
0.5-1.00 2.00 3.00	Care of elderly person - All	10 26 14	8.40^b (±3.47) 11.23^a (±3.46) 12.50^a (±3.13)	7.00 10.00 12.50	0.007^**
Perceived burden of caregiver
≤ 32 33-56 ≥ 57	Care of elderly person - Early hours	11 22 10	0.45^a.b (±0.82) 0.23^b (±0.53) 1.30^a (±1.42)	0.00 0.00 1.00	0.031^**
≤ 32 33-56 ≥ 57	Recuperation - All	11 22 10	8.09^a (±1.87) 7.77^a (±1.02) 6.20^b (±1.55)	8.00 8.00 7.00	0.020^**

	Hours spent per day on care for the elderly	Hours spent per day on discretionary activities	Hours spent per day on activities of caregiver	Hours spent per day on recuperation
Perceived burden score of caregiver	rho = 0.307 p = 0.030*	rho = -0.025 p = 0.863	rho = 0.006 p = 0.964	rho = -0.223 p = 0.120
Pfeffer functionality scale score of recipients of care	rho = 0.458 p = 0.001*	rho = 0.038 p = 0.792	rho = -0.009 p = 0.496	rho = -0.086 p = 0.554
Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score of care recipients	rho = 0.433 p = 0.002*	rho = -0.078 p = 0.592	rho = -0.007 p = 0.963	rho = -0.217 p = 0.130