Factors Affecting Care Worker's Burden of Patients with Dementia

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The importance of care workers in providing care to patients with dementia is increasing. The burden that care workers experience impacts the health of the patients as well as that of the workers themselves. This study examined the burden experienced by care workers looking after patients with dementia, with the aim of determining the factors associated with the severity of the caregiver burden. METHODS: Care workers providing care to patients with dementia were recruited from nine medical care centers in the metropolitan city of Daegu and Gyeongsanbuk-do province. Two hundred and twenty participants were included. During face-to-face interviews with a psychologist, they completed the Burden Interview, Life Satisfaction Index, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and their health status and the severity of dementia in their patients were evaluated. The burden experienced by care workers and the factors affecting it were assessed using statistical analyses. RESULTS: The care workers had a mean score in the Burden Interview of 28. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, as well as the health status and education level of caregivers were associated with the severity of caregiver burden (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the burden of the included Korean care workers ranged from mild to moderate. In addition, their health status, education level, and scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were closely related to the burden they experienced in caring for patients with dementia.