Caring for the Alzheimer's patient: the impact of the illness on the caregiver

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the subjective impact of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) on the lives of the primary family caregivers of patients suffering from said disease. METHOD: A cross analysis has been carried out among 29 caregivers of patients assisted. The used tools were the CBS, and a questionnaire to carry on a social survey on the caregivers and a formulary to perform an analysis on profile of the patient. Simple descriptive statistics, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (r), T Test for independent samples and ANOVA were performed, followed by the Bonferroni method, a d" 0.05. RESULTS: Most of caregivers were women (89.7%) average age 58, 55.2% elderly's children, 27.6% couples, most of them having studied for over 8 years (55.2%), and 86.2% living with the elderly. The global average impact score on the subjective impact calculated by the CBS was 2.18. The total score average of the CBS is higher in caregivers of bed-restricted patients (p=0.020). Caregivers with a lower educational level had a higher total score in the CBS (p=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: The subjective impact of AD in the caregiver was deemed significant and subject to various factors, such as caregiver educational level and patient dependency level.