[Quantitative research on cumulative fatigue symptoms of caregivers of the cared elderly living at home].

The primary caregivers for the cared elderly aged 65 and over living at home were surveyed on their fatigue symptoms in 1992. The Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index (CFSI) and self-rated fatigue as 5 grades was used to measure their fatigue symptoms. The subjects were 434 caregivers and 191 non-caregivers for the control at similar age. The following results were obtained. 1) It was indicated that the CFSI was more sensitive than self-rated fatigue as 5 grades. 2) The primary caregivers tended to show a significantly higher score in most of the CFSI categories. It was indicated that the caregiving role had the strong influence on the development of fatigue symptoms among the primary caregivers. 3) Most of the CFSI categories of the caregivers tended to show a significant correlation with higher rates of illnesses. It was indicated that fatigue symptoms had the strong illnesses among the primary caregivers.