Brigola Allan Gustavo, Luchesi Bruna Moretti, Alexandre Tiago da Silva, Inouye Keika, Mioshi Eneida, Pavarini Sofia Cristina Iost
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Departamento de Gerontologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2017 Oct-Dec;39(4):257-263. doi: 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0085. Epub 2017 Dec 4.
Older caregivers living in rural areas may be exposed to three vulnerable conditions, i.e., those related to care, their own aging, and their residence context.
To analyze the association of burden and frailty with cognition performance in older caregivers in rural communities.
In this cross-sectional survey, 85 older caregivers who cared for dependent elders were included in this study. Global cognition (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised; Mini Mental State Examination), burden (Zarit Burden Interview) and frailty (Fried's frailty phenotype) were assessed. All ethical principles were observed.
Older caregivers were mostly women (76.7%); mean age was 69 years. Cognitive impairment was present in 15.3%, severe burden in 8.2%, frailty in 9.4%, and pre-frailty in 52.9% of the older caregivers. More severely burdened or frail caregivers had worse cognitive performance than those who were not, respectively (ANOVA test). Caregivers presenting a high burden level and some frailty degree (pre-frail or frail) simultaneously were more likely to have a reduced global cognition performance.
A significant number of older caregivers had low cognitive performance. Actions and resources to decrease burden and physical frailty may provide better cognition and well-being, leading to an improved quality of life and quality of the care provided by the caregivers.
生活在农村地区的老年照料者可能面临三种脆弱状况，即与照料相关的状况、自身衰老以及居住环境。
分析农村社区老年照料者的负担和衰弱与认知表现之间的关联。
在这项横断面调查中，本研究纳入了85名照料依赖老人的老年照料者。评估了整体认知（修订版Addenbrooke认知检查；简易精神状态检查表）、负担（Zarit负担访谈）和衰弱（Fried衰弱表型）。所有伦理原则均得到遵守。
老年照料者大多为女性（76.7%）；平均年龄为69岁。15.3%的老年照料者存在认知障碍，8.2%存在重度负担，9.4%存在衰弱，52.9%存在衰弱前期。负担更重或衰弱的照料者的认知表现分别比未出现这些情况的照料者更差（方差分析检验）。同时呈现高负担水平和某种衰弱程度（衰弱前期或衰弱）的照料者更有可能出现整体认知表现下降。
相当数量的老年照料者认知表现较差。减轻负担和身体衰弱的行动及资源可能会带来更好的认知和幸福感，从而提高生活质量以及照料者提供的照料质量。
