Family and psychological health of the primary caregiver of dependent elderly

Abstract

Introduction: knowledge of the socio-familiar influences on caregivers of the elderly is necessary to help establish the degree of family functionality and the psychological pattern (alterations) of the caregiver. Objective: to determine the family and psychological health of the primary caregiver of the elderly in the Community of San Vicente, Centro del Cantón Quero, Tungurahua province, Ecuador, in the year 2020. Method: a descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in the 31 primary caregivers of the elderly who met the inclusion criteria, living in the aforementioned community. The instruments applied were: family APGAR questionnaire, Goldberg test, semi-structured interview with sociodemographic data, psychological disorders of the caregiver and the Zarit scale. Variables such as anxiety, depression, overload and family functionality were studied. The collected data were entered into an Excel database for analysis in the SPSS 25.0 statistical package. Results: 83.9% of the caregivers had anxiety, 87.1% had depression, 35.5% were overburdened by care and 41.9% had intense overload. It was found that 54.8% of the families were dysfunctional while 16.2% were severe dysfunctional. Conclusions: the majority of primary caregivers have severe family dysfunction, with high levels of anxiety and depression, and intense overload. When family functionality is altered, the primary caregiver of the elderly gets exhausted, with intense overload and states of anxiety and depression being one of the most marked psychological manifestations.

Keywords

• salud familiar
• salud mental del cuidador
• alteraciones psicológicas del cuidador primario
• cuidadores primarios de adultos mayores