Dementia is a constant concern for the public health system. Also, it impacts family members who provide informal care, often culminating in overload due to the emotional stress and physical distress of caregivers. Objective: This systematic review aimed to identify the consequences of Burnout Syndrome in informal caregivers of older adults with dementia. Methods: The search was performed spanning the last 10 years, in English, Portuguese or Spanish. The databases used were PubMed, SciELO, Web of Science and LILACS. The descriptors were obtained from MeSH and DeCS, which were, “caregivers”, “burnout”, “aged”, “psychological stress” and “dementia”. The selected articles included studies conducted with informal caregivers of community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with any type of dementia. The excluded articles had the following characteristics: the participants were not informal caregivers, the older adults were not diagnosed with dementia, or the main theme was not related to the Burnout Syndrome. Results: Initially, 1,208 articles were found. One hundred and forty-six were eliminated because they were duplicates. A further 1,033 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Twenty-nine studies were selected for full reading and 22 were excluded, giving 7 studies for inclusion in this review. Conclusion: The results showed that the Burnout Syndrome negatively affected caregivers’ quality of life and was associated with patient depressive and anxious symptoms and abusive behavior by caregiver. There is a need for studies with interventions addressing this issue.

Objective :to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive disorders before and after an intervention program with a digital therapeutic game among elderly persons undergoing hemodialysis. Method: a quasi-experimental study was carried out with 26 elderly patients on hemodialysis. For the data collection, a questionnaire relating to sociodemographic and health conditions, the Geriatric Depression Scale - 15 items and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised were used. The intervention with the digital therapeutic game was performed over 5 sessions. Results: of the participants, 80.8% were male, with a mean age of 66.7 (± 5.8) years. The mean pre-intervention depressive symptom score was 3.9 (± 3.0) while post-intervention it was 2.8 (± 2.9), representing a statistically significant difference (p = 0.005). Regarding cognitive function, there was no statistically significant difference before and after the intervention. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean of the depressive symptom scores, which were lower after the intervention. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean of the cognitive assessments. Conclusion: intervention studies with patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment are still scarce and this study describes the positive results of an intervention with a digital therapeutic game, demonstrating improvement in the depressive symptoms of the participants.

ABSTRACT. There is an increasing number of aged people who provide care for other older people. Commonly existing burden and stress can change the forms of cognitive performance depending on the context of the aged caregivers. Objective: To compare the cognitive performance, burden and stress of aged caregivers of older adults with and without signs of cognitive impairment. Methods: A cross-sectional and quantitative study conducted with 205 aged caregivers of older adults with signs of cognitive impairment and 113 aged caregivers of older adults without signs of cognitive impairment treated in Primary Health Care. They were evaluated for sociodemographic characteristics, cognition, burden, and stress. Descriptive (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) and comparative (Student's t-test and Pearson's χ² test) analyses were performed. Results: Aged caregivers of older adults with signs of cognitive impairment were older, had lower schooling levels, and a higher percentage of daily care hours compared to the aged caregivers of older adults without signs of cognitive impairment. Regarding cognitive performance, the means were lower for all domains. In addition, this same group had higher scores, with a statistically significant difference for perceived stress and burden. Conclusion: Aged caregivers of older adults with signs of cognitive impairment showed lower cognitive performance, as well as higher burden and stress levels. These findings guide the planning of interventions with aged caregivers in the Primary Health Care.

Objective to analyze the effect of burden, stress, and depressive symptoms on the health characteristics of older adult caregivers of older adults. Method A quantitative and longitudinal study was conducted with 127 older adult caregivers to analyze the effect of burden, stress, and depressive symptoms on their health characteristics. The variables assessed included health characterization, burden, depressive symptoms, and stress. A linear regression model and Poisson test were employed, with a significance level set at 5%. Results The findings revealed that an increase of one point in the burden scale score was associated with a 0.030 increase in the number of diseases (p=0.020) and an increased risk of chronic pain (p=0.005). Similarly, a one-point increase in the stress scale score was associated with a 0.058 increase in the number of diseases (p=0.001), as well as an increased risk of a poor subjective health assessment (p=<0.001) and chronic pain (p=<0.001). Furthermore, an increase in the score on the depressive symptoms scale was associated with an increase in the number of diseases (p=<0.001), risk of falls (p=0.009), poor subjective health assessment (p=<0.001), and chronic pain (p=<0.001). Conclusions and implications for practice The worsening estimate in the scores of psychological variables poses a risk to the deterioration of caregivers’ physical health characteristics. The findings underscore the need for the development of public policies aimed at improving the quality of life for older adult caregivers.

Resumo Objetivo analisar o efeito da sobrecarga, do estresse e dos sintomas depressivos sobre as características de saúde de idosos cuidadores de idosos. Métodos estudo quantitativo e longitudinal com 127 idosos cuidadores. As variáveis utilizadas foram caracterização de saúde; sobrecarga; sintomas depressivos e estresse. Realizou-se modelo de regressão linear, teste de Poisson, com nível de significância de 5%. Resultados observou-se que um ponto a mais no escore na escala de sobrecarga aumenta em 0,030 o número de doenças (p=0,020) e risco de dor crônica (p=0,005); um ponto a mais no escore na escala de estresse aumenta em 0,058 o número de doenças (p=0,001) e risco para avaliação de saúde regular/ruim (p=<0,001) e dor crônica (p=<0,001); o aumento no escore na escala de sintomas depressivos aumenta o número de doenças (p=<0,001), risco de quedas (p=0,009), avaliação de saúde regular/ruim (p=<0,001) e dor crônica (p=<0,001). Conclusões e implicações para a prática estimativa de piora nos escores das variáveis psicológicas acarreta um risco para o agravamento de características de saúde física dos cuidadores. Com os resultados encontrados, observar-se a necessidade da criação de políticas públicas para os idosos cuidadores, a fim de propiciar uma melhor qualidade de vida.