Korean J Rehabil Nurs.  2005 Jun;8(1):20-30.

Stress and Health Status of Primary Caregivers Caring for Demented Elderly

• Kim KM
• Lee EN

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the stress level and health status of primary caregivers living with demented elderly. METHOD: The subject was 92 primary caregivers who had been taking care of demented elderly at home. The research tools were a stress questionnaire and health status questionnaire. The data were collected through direct interview with a questionnaire in the B city, from February to March 2004. The data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and Scheffe test using SPSS/PC 11.0 program. RESULTS: The primary caregivers living with demented elderly showed slightly high level of stress and moderate level of health status. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the stress level and the mental and the physical health status. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, we recommend the development of an intervention program to decrease the stress level of primary caregivers living with demented elderly for improving their health status.

Keyword

Primary caregivers; Stress; Health status; Dementia

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Caregivers*
Dementia
Health Status
Humans
Surveys and Questionnaires