Caring for the carer: quality of life and burden of female caregivers

Descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study carried out with 224 informal caregivers from March to July 2016. Three instruments were used: a characterization form for the caregiver, the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire and the Zarit Burden Interview. The following tests were used: Cronbach’s Alpha, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman and Mann-Whitney.

Results:

The mean age of caregivers was 51.8 years with a standard deviation of 13.7. They were predominantly married, had a low income and low level of education, were first-degree relatives, had been providing care for one to five years and presented some pathology. The associations of quality of life that presented statistical significance were: income, marital status, number of people living with the caregiver and time of care.

Conclusion:

The burden was negatively correlated with QOL, that is, the greater the burden, the more impaired will be the life of these caregivers.

Descriptors:
Caregivers; Women’s Health; Nursing; Family; Quality of Life

Domains	Mean	Median	Standard-deviation	Minimum	Maximum
Physical health	64.88	66.10	16.31	10.70	96.40
Psychological	59.22	62.50	16.96	4.20	95.80
Social	65.73	66.70	18.16	8.30	100.00
Environmental	51.60	51.55	13.30	12.50	93.80
Quality of life (OQOLI)^* * Overall Quality of Life Index.	60.36	60.90	12.37	21.90	95.60

Domains	Facets	Mean score
Physical	Q3. Pain and discomfort	30.07
	Q4. Energy and fatigue	45.74
	Q10. Sleep and rest	60.38
	Q15. Mobility	74.00
	Q16. Activities of daily living	58.48
	Q17. Dependence on medicinal substances and medical aids	68.86
	Q18. Work capacity	67.41
Psychological	Q5. Positive feelings	33.18
	Q6. Thinking, learning, memory and concentration	67.86
	Q7. Self-esteem	62.05
	Q11. Bodily image and appearance	63.95
	Q19. Negative feelings	69.64
	Q26. Spirituality, religion and personal beliefs	41.07
Social relationships	Q20. Personal relationships	69.86
	Q21. Social support	63.23
	Q22. Sexual activity	64.51
Environmental	Q8. Freedom, physical safety and security	62.50
	Q9. Home environment	58.71
	Q12. Financial resources	37.50
	Q13. Health and social care: accessibility and quality	49.67
	Q14. Opportunities for acquiring new information and skills	25.78
	Q23. Participation in and opportunities for recreation/leisure activities	67.30
	Q24. Physical environment (pollution/noise/traffic/climate)	51.12
	Q25. Transport	60.16

Domains	Age group (years)				P value
Domains	18 - 30	31 - 50	51 - 60	Over 60	P value
Physical health	65.87	66.02	60.78	66.92	0.179
Psychological	67.13	62.36	53.32	58.87	0.002^* * Significant
Social relationships	63.89	67.45	63.42	65.57	0.539
Environmental	42.71	53.13	48.11	53.90	0.012^* * Significant
Quality of life (OQOLI)	59.89	62.24	56.40	61.33	0.028^* * Significant

Domains	Number of people living with the caregiver			P value
Domains	1 a 2	3 a 5	6 ou mais	P value
Physical health	63.63	65.59	64.93	0.457
Psychological	58.81	59.77	58.08	0.791
Social relationships	65.83	63.77	72.73	0.048^* * Significant
Environment	49.61	51.95	54.56	0.252
Quality of lige (OQOLI)	59.47	60.27	62.57	0.620

	Levels of burden				P value
	Little or no burden	Mild to moderate	Moderate to Severe	Severe	P value
Overall Quality of Life Score	89.71	82.87	79.72	84.50	0.000^* * Significant

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] Corresponding Author: Michelly Guedes de Oliveira Araújo. E-mail: michelly.g@gmail.com