Factors Influencing Dementia Caregivers' Health-related Quality of Life

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the health-related quality of life of caregivers for demented elders. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 170 pairs of demented elders and their caregivers. Socio-demographic characteristics of the demented elders and the caregivers, Barthel index and SF-36 were used in this study. Data analysis procedure included t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: The score of overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was 288.62 in norm-based scoring. The major factors that affect HRQoL of the demented elders' caregivers were burden, the age of the caregiver, ADL and gender of the demented elder, and these factors explained 34.5% of HRQoL. CONCLUSION: The factors significantly affecting the caregivers' HRQoL were burden, the age of the caregiver and ADL. The effective social support system should be considered in respective nursing interventions to decrease the level of burden and to increase HRQoL in demented elders' caregivers. Further studies and efforts will be needed to investigate preceding factors of burden and HRQoL.