Prevalência de sobrecarga em cuidadores de idosos assistidos na atenção básica de saúde

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the burden of caregivers of elderly assisted in primary health care. Method: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with caregivers of elderly members of the Santa Rita Family Health Strategy, Marau, Rio Grande do Sul. For data collection, a sociodemographic questionnaire, Katz scale and Zarit Burden Interview scale were used. Data were double entered and later analyzed using PSPP software version 1.2.0-1. The distribution of the outcome according to the independent variables was verified by the chi square test, using a level of statistical significance of 5%. Results: the study showed the predominance of caregivers of elderly women (83.8%), aged 25 to 58 years and married (78.4%). Considering the degree of relationship, 64.9% were children and 35.1% were husband, wife, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and nephew. It was observed that 16.2% of the elderly caregivers used anxiolytics and 43.2% antidepressants. The caregivers of the elderly who were part of the sample worked in the function for more than 5 years (59.5%), working 10 hours or more daily (54.1%) and not having time for leisure (56.8%). The prevalence of burden among caregivers was 56.8%, and 76.2% of caregivers who presented overload did not perform any leisure activity (p = 0.01). Conclusions: It was found that most of the population evaluated presented worrying levels of burden.