Predictors of caregiver burden in caregivers of older people with physical disabilities in a rural community

Abstract

Caring for an aging society is a problem facing many countries including Thailand. This cross-sectional study investigated caregiver burden and related predictive factors among 69 caregivers who had older family members with physical disabilities. Burden Scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref Thai (QOL), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ), Barthel Activity of Daily Living Index (ADL), and Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) assessments were used in addition to demographic data. Thirteen caregivers (18.8%) reported no caregiver burden, 30 (43.5%) reported low-moderate burden, 21 (30.4%) reported moderate-high burden and 5 (7.2%) reported high burden. Using Fisher’s Exact Test the factors found to be significantly associated to caregiver burden were: categorical age of the caregiver (p = .000), education level of the caregiver (p = .002), relationship to the care recipient (p = .009), categorical income level of the caregiver (p = .041), QOL of the caregiver (p = .001) and ADL status of the care recipient (p = .003). Forward stepwise linear regression model revealed three factors which were PHQ score (β = .543, p < .000), ADL score (β = -.341, p = .001) and hours of care/week (β = .227, p = .017). Future studies should focus on interventions that impact depression levels, independence with activities of living and hours of care per week.