Caregiver Burden among the Caregivers of Older Adults with Palliative Care Needs

Abstract

Objective: To examine caregiver burden among caregivers of hospitalised geriatric patients with palliative care design. Method: Caregivers of 330 geriatric patients with various chronic end-stage diseases were assessed using BSFC-s questionnaire. Results: Majority of caregivers were spouses (26%). The caregiver burden across the categories was more than 60% across all the questions asked in the BSFC-s questionnaire. Maximum in the caregiver with end-stage renal disease (60.3%) and a minimum of frail elderly (50.2%). Conclusion: Caregiver burden was common in caregivers of geriatric patients with end-stage chronic diseases. The burden was associated with the caregiver's report of need for greater help with daily tasks but not with objective measures of the patient's need for assistance, such as symptoms or functional status, suggesting that burden may be a measure of the caregiver's ability to adapt to the caregiving role.

Keywords

• caregiver
• geriatric
• palliative care
• geriatric patients with palliative care needs