Lin Danrong, Liao Junbin, Liu Yanxi, Zhong Yuquan, Pan Jingyun, Fang Heng, Lin Yunfeng, Yao Yilu, Su Jiewen, Hu Bingjie, Zhu Wei
Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Scientific Research, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, China.
Front Public Health. 2025 Aug 21;13:1628022. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1628022. eCollection 2025.
This study aims to investigate the current status of disability among older adults and analyze factors influencing the burden on their family caregivers in southern China.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 334 pairs of disabled older adults (≥65 years) and their primary family caregivers across three districts in Guangzhou. Face-to-face interviews using standardized questionnaires assessed disability levels via the "Long-term Care Disability Level Assessment" scale and caregiver burden via the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) scale. For ordinal variables, the Kruskal-Wallis H test was applied for multi-group comparisons, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used for two-group analyses. Statistical significance was set at < 0.05. Ordinal logistic regression identified factors associated with caregiver burden.
Among 334 disabled older adults in Guangzhou, the mean age was 82 years. Of these, 55.7% were married, 43.4% were male, 43.4% had an educational attainment of primary school or below. For the 334 family caregivers, 62.3% were female, 36.8% had completed high school or vocational education. The median years of caregiving experience was 5 years, with a median weekly caregiving time of 70 h. Caregiver burden distribution was as follows: 16.2% no burden, 41.0% mild burden, 28.7% moderate burden, and 14.1% severe burden. Statistically significant differences in caregiver burden were observed across the following variables ( < 0.05): disabled old adults' activities of daily living (ADL), caregivers' gender, child in school, physical disease, years of caregiving experience, weekly caregiving time, social interaction frequency, life satisfaction, and social support network size. Higher caregiver life satisfaction and elevated ADL scores in care recipients emerged as protective factors. Conversely, longer weekly caregiving hours and caregivers' physical illness were identified as risk factors.
This study identifies weekly caregiving time, caregivers' physical disease, disabled older adults' ADL capacity, and caregivers' life satisfaction as critical determinants of burden severity in aging China, advocating multilevel interventions.
本研究旨在调查中国南方老年人的残疾现状，并分析影响其家庭照顾者负担的因素。
对广州市三个区的334对残疾老年人（≥65岁）及其主要家庭照顾者进行了横断面调查。使用标准化问卷进行面对面访谈，通过“长期护理残疾水平评估”量表评估残疾程度，通过 Zarit 负担访谈（ZBI）量表评估照顾者负担。对于有序变量，采用 Kruskal-Wallis H 检验进行多组比较，采用 Mann-Whitney U 检验进行两组分析。统计学显著性设定为<0.05。有序逻辑回归确定与照顾者负担相关的因素。
在广州的334名残疾老年人中，平均年龄为82岁。其中，55.7%已婚，43.4%为男性，43.4%的教育程度为小学及以下。在334名家庭照顾者中，62.3%为女性，36.8%完成了高中或职业教育。照顾经验的中位数为5年，每周照顾时间的中位数为70小时。照顾者负担分布如下：无负担16.2%，轻度负担41.0%，中度负担28.7%，重度负担14.1%。在以下变量中观察到照顾者负担的统计学显著差异（<0.05）：残疾老年人的日常生活活动（ADL）、照顾者性别、有上学子女、身体疾病、照顾经验年限、每周照顾时间、社交互动频率、生活满意度和社会支持网络规模。照顾者较高的生活满意度和受照顾者较高的ADL得分是保护因素。相反，每周较长的照顾时间和照顾者的身体疾病被确定为风险因素。
本研究确定每周照顾时间、照顾者身体疾病、残疾老年人的ADL能力和照顾者生活满意度是中国老龄化负担严重程度的关键决定因素，提倡进行多层次干预。
