Relationship between Burden and Perceived Social Support in Low-income Caregivers

Abstract

Objectives: To describe and correlate burden and social support in low-income caregivers of chronic patients. Material and methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 170 low-income family caregivers of people with chronic diseases who answered a survey on sociodemographic and care variables, in addition to the Zarit scale to measure burden and the MOS questionnaire on perceived social support. The analysis was performed using descriptive and differential statistics. Results: Most caregivers were female, and the predominant kinship was father-son. A significant and negative correlation (rs = -.307, p < 0.001) was identified between the caregivers’ burden and perceived social support, as well as a significant and positive correlation (rs = 0.278, p < 0.01) between the time devoted to care and the caregivers’ burden. Conclusions: Low-income family caregivers require more social support to reduce the burden levels.