Evaluation of the relationship between caregiver burden, coping styles and levels of anxiety and depression in caregivers of old age patients

Abstract

Introduction:At present, caregiver's health is a public health challenge in itself, asimportant as the health of the elderly. This study aims to investigate therelationship between caregiver burden and levels of anxiety and depression, thefactors influencing them, and also to evaluate the coping strategies of thecaregivers.Methods:This study is a survey-based cross-sectional study, including a total of70 caregivers. Sociodemographic characteristics of caregivers and carereceivers were collected by a survey. The functional status of the elderly was evaluatedby Katz’ Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). BurdenInterview Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and The COPE Inventorywere used to examine the caregiver burden, anxiety and depression levels andcoping strategies of the caregivers.Results:Anxiety and depression levels of the caregivers included in our studywere higher when compared with the other studies. The anxiety levels werecorrelated with the non-functional coping strategies. The use of effectivesocial support decreased the anxiety levels.Conclusion:Country specific guidelines should be prepared for the primaryhealthcare centers in order to evaluate and protect caregiver health. Long-termmulticenter clinical studies are needed to develop culture-specific programsfor the intervention of functional coping strategies and to help caregiverscope more effectively with their daily life stressors.

Keywords

• caregiver burden
• anxiety
• depression
• coping style
• geriatrics
• bakım yükü
• anksiyete
• depresyon
• baş etme biçimleri
• geriatri