Condition of informal caregivers in long-term care of people with dementia

Introduction. Caregivers of demented relatives devote their time and attention in order to help the beloved members of the family. Those who are informal caregivers require support in order to avoid being overburdened. Many such caregivers may suffer from chronic health problems, for instance, depression. Objective. The aim was to assess the factors of depression in caregivers, and to discover the determinants of depression among informal family caregivers of demented individuals. Materials and method. Forty-one caregivers in the research group were administered a questionnaire which included the caregivers’ demographics. Caregiver’s level of depression was measured by the scale of the Centre for Epidemiology Scale for Depression. The relationship between depression and demographic features was analyzed. Data were analyzed using STATISTICA 8.1 (StatSoft). Analysis of the results was performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of normality. Pearson correlation coefficient was also used. Results. Referring to The Centre for Epidemiology Scale for Depression, the average score in the study group was 18 ± 7.49. There was no statistically significant relationship between the level of depression and such factors as caregiver’s age, time of care of demented relative, and type of kinship and pain. Conclusions. Although there was no relationship between the level of depression and demographic features, the problem with quality of life, worries and grief which may appear, seemed to be sufficient reason for organizing the prevention of depression for all informal caregivers of persons with dementia.