The care burden of caregivers of the elderly hospitalized in A foundation University Hospital and the factors affecting care burden

The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study to determine the care burden of caregivers of the elderly hospitalized in a foundation university hospital and the factors affecting care burden. The study was carried out with elderly patients aged 65 and older hospitalized in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Hematology, and Cardiology Services of a Foundation University Hospital on the European side of Istanbul and their caregivers between February 2020 - November 2020. The study data were collected from individuals caring for elderly patients and elderly patients by the face-to-face interview method. In order to determine the sample in the study, it was determined that the sample should be a minimum of 138 people aged 65 and over. This research was conducted with 140 people aged 65 and over and caregivers. The Caregiver Information Form, the Caregiving Burden Scale (CBS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the General Health Questionnaire-12 were used to collect data from caregivers. The Patient Information Form and the KATZ Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Scale were used to collect data from patients. Descriptive statistical analyses (mean, standard deviation, frequency), Student's t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used to evaluate the data. The mean age of caregivers was 49.20±10.75, 72.9% were female, 30.7% were high school graduates, 75% were married, 47.1% had less income than their expenses, and 39.3% were housewives. The mean age of elderly individuals was 73.50±6.47, 68.6% were female, and 38.6% were literate. While the mean score of the Caregiving Burden Scale was 30.65±9.31, the mean score of the GHQ-12 was 4.02 ±2.43, and the mean total score of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was 52.61±14.00. The mean score of the KATZ ADL scale of the patients who participated in the study was 13.65±3.15, 5.7% of them had independent activities of daily living, 26.4% of them had semi-dependent activities of daily living, and 67.9% of them had dependent activities of daily living. The mean score of the CBS scale of those who considered their health poor, those without regular health checks, those who did not care about their health, and those who did not have a room of the patient they cared for was found to be high. The mean score of the CBS scale of the caregivers of female patients, caregivers of primary and secondary school graduates, and caregivers of elderly people with income less than expenses was found to be higher compared to others. The mean score of the CBS scale of the caregivers of cancer patients was found to be higher compared to the caregivers of cardiac patients. The mean score of the CBS scale of the caregivers of semi-dependent elderly patients was found to be higher compared to the caregivers of dependent patients. A very weak positive correlation was found between the CBS scale and the duration of disease. While there was a weak negative correlation between the CBS scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, there was a weak positive correlation between the GHQ-12 and a weak negative correlation between the KATZ ADL scale. A significant correlation was found between the care burden and the KATZ ADL scale, the age of the patient, the gender of the caregiver, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the caregiver's regular health checks, and the GHQ-12 scale, respectively. These variables explained 56.3% of the total variance for care burden. The fact that the caregiver is a female and her mental health is poor negatively affects the care burden. Caregiver's regular health checks and high social support, and the increasing age and dependence of the patient they care for reduce the care burden. KeyWords : Grow Old, Giving Care, Care Burden, Factors Affe cting Care Burden