Correlates of Burden in Primary Caregivers of Older Relatives: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

PURPOSE: To analyze the effect of cultural factors on the subjective burden of primary home caregivers of older relatives. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Primary home caregivers (N = 208) of older relatives were recruited in Spain using systematic random sampling. METHODS: The data were collected in 2010 through interviews. The measures included sociodemographic characteristics, stressors (the intensity of care provided and the care-recipient's needs; the latter were assessed using the Barthel Index, the Pfeiffer Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire and the Cummings Neuropsychiatric Inventory), cultural factors (kinship ties, common residence, perceived social support, and cultural motives for caregiving), and caregiver subjective burden (Caregiver Strain Index). The data were analyzed using bivariate procedures and multiple linear regression. FINDINGS: After controlling for caregiver age, caregiver gender, stressors, and duration of caregiving, subjective burden was negatively associated with perceived social support and reciprocity, and in the subgroup of adult children, it was positively associated with common residence. Cultural factors explained 29% of the variance in burden. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings add to the existing evidence regarding the influence of cultural factors in the perception of burden in caregiving situations. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A risk profile could be proposed for subjective burden in primary family caregivers. Individuals who are at risk are characterized as young, offspring who live with the care recipient, care for a care recipient with behavioral problems, are unsatisfied with the social support received, and have a low balanced reciprocity.