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 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.

Stress, Overload and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Children With/Without Orofacial Cleft and Dysphagia

“…A similar result was observed in another study carried out with informal caregivers who are part of a family health program, pointing out that the greater the overload, the lower the caregiver's satisfaction with their own health and quality of life, that is, individuals more overloaded by the task have a worse perception of their quality of life 30 . Another research study that included 224 informal female caregivers demonstrated that overload was negatively correlated with quality of life 31 . In addition, a research study pointed out that high levels of anxiety, depression and overload negatively influence the quality of life scores of informal caregivers 32 .…”

“…In general, the responsibility for the care of the child is assumed by the parents or family members who do not have scientific training to do so. Faced with this new reality, the caregiver is in front of a universe that goes beyond the care demands, being able to experience negative feelings and difficulties related to new responsibilities [7][8][9] .…”

Questionários de avaliação da sobrecarga do cuidador informal: Revisão integrativa

“…Quanto aos participantes, as amostras variaram entre 60 a 2.990 participantes, sete estudos abordaram apenas o cuidador, seis díades cuidador / pessoa adoecida e um estudo contou com cuidadores informais e não cuidadores. Os participantes eram cuidadores de pessoas com doenças crônicas como Parkinson (Grün, Pieri, Vaillant, & Diederich, 2016), Alzheimer ou outras demências (Vaingankar et al, 2015;Cova et al, 2018;Reed et al, 2017;Häikiö, Cloutier, & Rugkåsa, 2020), Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica (Bayen et al, 2015;Galvin et al, 2016), Câncer (Ramos-Campos, Redolat, & Mesa-Gresa, 2020), transtornos mentais (Alzahrani, Fallata, Alabdulwahab, Alsafi, & Bashawri, 2017), sobreviventes de AVE (Gbiri, Olawale, & Isaac, 2015) e limitações físicas (Araújo et al, 2019).…”

“…Os itens avaliam tanto questões referentes a sobrecarga objetiva (não tem tempo para si mesmo porque está cuidando, sua vida social está prejudicada porque está cuidando, sente que não tem dinheiro suficiente para cuidar somando as outras despesas) como a sobrecarga subjetiva (sente-se irritado quando ele está por perto, sente receio pelo futuro, sente-se envergonhado com o comportamento dele) (Gbiri et al, 2015;Hoang, Green, & Bonner, 2019;Bayen et al, 2015;Mora-Castañeda et al, 2016;Ramos-Campos et al, 2020;Araújo et al, 2019;Reed et al, 2017;Galvin et al, 2016;Grün et al, 2016).…”

“…Apesar das situações desfavoráveis, não afirmaram sentimentos de sobrecarga porque interpretavam isso como lamentação e protesto, o que provocaria sentimento de culpa. Sendo assim, concluiu-se que os mesmos não notam nem expressam a real sobrecarga gerada pelo cuidado (Araújo et al, 2019).…”