Similarities and Differences in Caring Burden of Home Dwellers With Partners Suffering From Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Dementia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore caring burden of cohabitants (N = 206) having partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or dementia in relation to aspects of social support. Caring burden was measured by the Relative Stress Scale and was found to be lower and to change less with severity in the COPD group. In multiple regression analyses, characteristics of the ill partners such as aggressive behaviors, degree of self-reliance, hours they could adequately be alone, in addition to public services, social support or withdrawal from family and friends, and gender of the caregiver were overriding the type of illness. Different factors added to the caring burden of females and males. In the total sample, those factors explained 62.9% of the caring burden, while for females 58% was explained, and 77% for males.

Personality features, caring burden and mental health of cohabitants of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia

“…The caring burden increased with severity of the disease only in the dementia group ( ¼ 0.45, p 5 0.001). No gender differences emerged with regard to caring burden (Nordtug & Holen, 2010).…”

“…This may entail a higher caring burden and result in more health problems, strain and depression among females (Almberg, Jansson, Grafstro¨m, & Winblad, 1998;Gallicchio, Siddiqi, Langenberg, & Baumgarten, 2002;McNaughton, Patterson, Smith, & Grant, 1995). Caregiving males, however, seem more affected by having less leeway in life as the illness exacerbates (Nordtug & Holen, 2010). With reduced freedom, the cohabitants may perceive less support and confirmation of identity from their associates (Giddens, 1994;Nordtug & Holen, 2010).…”

“…The mean age of the caregivers was 71.4 (range 50-91 years). Twenty-four percent of the caregivers in this group listed primary school as their highest level of education, 40% had additional vocational training and 37% had a high school, college or university education (Nordtug & Holen, 2010).…”

“…In the dementia group, eight participants (7.9%) had partners with questionable dementia, 42 (42.6%) had partners with mild dementia, 37 (36.6%) had partners with moderate dementia and 14 (13.9%) had partners with severe dementia (Hughes, Berg, Danziger, Coben, & Martin, 1982;Nordtug & Holen, 2010).…”

Problems experienced by informal caregivers with older care recipients with and without cognitive impairment

“…When informal caregivers feel that the care is not sufficient, this may lead to feelings of burn out, depression, and guilt. (Almberg, Grafström, & Winblad, 1997, Collins & Jones, 1997Donaldson, Tarrier, & Burns, 1998;Edwards & Scheetz, 2002;Ekwall & Hallberg, 2007;Gonyea, Paris, & De Saxe Zerden, 2008;Madsen & Birkelund, 2013;Roach, Laidlaw, Gillanders & Quinn, 2013;Springate & Tremont, 2014) In particular, cognitive problems of the care recipient are related to an increased complexity of the care and increased burden of the informal caregiver (Fowler, Fisher, & Pitts, 2014;Nordtug & Holen, 2011;Sequiera, 2013;Wenzel & Poynter, 2014). Apart from stress, problems in the social and relational domain occur, (Feinberg & Whitlatch, 2002), especially when the care recipient has cognitive problems (Harris, 2013;Luchetti et al, 2009).…”