RESUMEN
Objective:To explore the mediating effect of caring ability of family caregivers on dementia patients′ self-care ability and family caregiver burden.Methods:A total of 113 dementia caregivers of dementia patients recruited in Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Mental Health Center from September 2020 to January 2021 were selected, and the Barthel Index, Family Caregiver Task Inventory and Zarit Burden Interview were used to capture their responses on dementia patients′ self-care ability, caring ability, and caregiver burden.Results:The score of self-care ability of dementia patients was (75.19 ± 28.56), and scores of caring ability and care burden of caregivers were 9.00(4.00, 15.00) and (33.78 ± 16.53), respectively. The self-care ability of dementia patients was negatively associated with caring ability and care burden of caregivers ( r=-0.424, -0.420, both P<0.01), and the caring ability and care burden were positively correlated ( r=0.605, P<0.01). The intermediary effect of dementia caregivers' caring ability between patients' self-care ability and caregivers' care burden is significant. The indirect effect was -0.107 and the total effect was -0.187. The indirect effect accounted for 57.22% of the total effect. Conclusions:Caring ability of family caregivers mediates the relationship between self-care ability of dementia patients and caregivers' care burden.The caring ability may be used as an intervening target for future studies.