[Quality of life among older informal caregivers of people with dementia].

BACKGROUND

In Germany, informal caregiving becomes an increasingly important issue especially for people with dementia. Spouses often provide nursing care due to the limited daily living skills of people with dementia. This leads to a wide range of caregiver burden and decreased quality of life (QoL). Analyses on the relation between QoL and caregiver burden of older informal caregivers in Germany are rare.

OBJECTIVE

The following research questions were assessed: (1) Does caregivers' QoL differ from that of the older general population?; (2) Which sociodemographic, health- and care-related characteristics affect caregivers' QoL?

MATERIAL AND METHODS

For this study, two samples (aged 60 years and older) were recruited: informal caregivers (n = 119) and a representative sample of older non-caregivers in the general population (n = 1133). Linear regression analyses were applied to examine the effects of sociodemographic, health and care-related variables on the QoL of older informal caregivers of people with dementia.

RESULTS

Older informal caregivers reported a significantly lower QoL compared to older non-caregivers in the general population. Especially the domains autonomy, activities in the past, the present and the future as well as intimacy were negatively associated with caregivers' QoL.

CONCLUSION

The results of the study highlighted caregivers' need for assistance. Due to demographic changes, tailored support services should be based on older caregivers' needs.