Abstract
Aim: To assess the pattern of caregiving burden among caregivers of geriatric population.
Method: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted for 215 caregivers with their respective elderly patients in the General out patuent of the Federal medical center Owerri, Nigeria. Data were collected using the modified caregiver strain index (MCSI) and self-prepared socio-demographic sheet. Data were analysed using spss v.20 Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data.
Results:
In this study, the mean age of the caregivers was 40.62+15.75. Majority of the caregivers were informal caregivers, females, married from monogamous families, had family size <1 year, had cardiovascular type of illness and had no co-morbidity. An overall burden prevalence of 98.6% was reported amongst the caregivers; however, majority of the respondents (70.2%) had mild/low burden of care.
Conclusion.
Most caregivers of elderly patients experience burden of care. Our findings highlight the need to raise guidelines for health care professionals on the practical interventions aimed at identifying burdened caregivers and improving their care giving experiences.