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

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the quality of life and the burden of female caregivers. Method: 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michelly Guedes de Oliveira Araújo, Michelinne Oliveira Machado Dutra, Carla Carolina Silva Leite Freitas, Tatiane Gomes Guedes, Francisco Stélio de Souza, Rosilene Santos Baptista
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem
Series:Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71672019000300728&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the quality of life and the burden of female caregivers. Method: 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.
ISSN:1984-0446