Prevalence of chronic illnesses and characteristics of chronically ill informal caregivers of persons with dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

to examine the prevalence of and the link of chronic illnesses (CIs) to informal caregivers of persons with dementia (PWDs), as well as to identify characteristics of caregivers with CIs.

Methods

the sample included 124 caregivers of PWDs from a caregiver programme of research. Sociodemographic information and caregivers CIs were collected by an in-person interview. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-square analysis and binary logistic regressions were performed for data analysis.

Results

approximately 81.5% (n = 101) of caregivers reported having at least one CI, 60.5% (n = 75) reported two or more CIs. Caregivers with CIs were more likely to be older and unemployed; advanced age and female gender were risk factors for CIs. The link of CIs to caregivers

SUBMITTER: Wang XR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4047288 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature