Prevalence and associated factors to frailty among senior caregivers

• Autor(a) principal: Tomomitsu,Monica Regina Scandiuzzi Valente
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Lemos,Naira Dutra, Perracini,Monica Rodrigues
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Geriatrics, Gerontology and Aging (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ggaging.com/details/292
• topic: Frail elderly, caregivers, elderly.

<p><b>OBJECTIVE:</b> To identify the prevalence of frailty and associated factors in elderly caregivers of dependent elderly individuals.<br> <b>METHODS:</b> Fifty caregivers were evaluated using a structured questionnaire containing sociodemographic and clinical-functional data, care demands, the profile of the dependent elderly individual and criteria regarding frailty (unintentional weight loss, self-reported exhaustion, walking speed, grip strength and physical activity). For the statistical analysis caregivers were divided in two groups "frail and pre frail" and "nonfrail", then was performed Chi square and Fisher exact tests and the Student t test for independent samples and multivariate logistic regression, stepwise logit model, with significance determined at 5%.<br> <b>RESULTS:</b> Caregivers mean age was 71,6 ± 7,5 and 78% of them were women. Analysis of the results showed a prevalence of caregivers considered frail of 18%, prefrail of 54% and 28% nonfrail. In the multivariate logistic regression, the factors associated with any frailty condition were: presence of depressive symptoms (OR = 1,11; 95% IC = 1,01-1,21), high caregiver burden (OR = 5,62; 95% IC = 1,69-18,66) and reduced functional capacity (OR = 1,29; 95% IC = 1,07-1,57).<br> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> These findings suggested that most caregivers had at high risk for developing the frailty.</p>