ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The increase in life expectancy and the aging of the population have a significant impact on the informal care provided by caregivers. Protecting caregivers against excessive burden has become a public health priority. The majority of studies target only those providing care for dependent elderly people. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of informal caregivers of non-dependent elderly persons, their difficulties and their level of burden. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 876 dyads: elderly people (over 70 years of age, non-dependent, living at home and having requested assistance from CARSAT South-East) and their caregivers. Two questionnaires were administered: one for the elderly (including the Frailty Group Iso-Resource Evaluation) and one for caregivers (including the Mini-Zarit Scale). A multi-component analysis and a logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: The elderly were mainly women (77.6%) with a mean age of 82.2±5.8 years and most were frail (94.7%). Most of the caregivers were women (64.5%) with a mean age of 62.7±13.7 years. The multi-component analysis showed three categories of caregivers: spouses, children and others. Among them, spouses performed the most tasks (4.8±2.6) and had the greatest burden. Caregivers in the "others" category were the least burdened and were the least impacted in their daily life. The children category caregivers were divided into two subgroups: those with characteristics similar to "others" caregivers and those with characteristics similar to "spouse" caregivers. Heavy burden was related to greater impact on daily life, poor relationships with the elderly and caregivers' difficulties in performing their role. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the heterogeneous nature of informal caregiver profiles. It also shows that the characteristic features and the burden of these caregivers are similar whether the elderly person is dependent or non-dependent but frail.
