A Study on the Burdens and Depressive Reactions on Families who Cared for Patients Suffering from Senile Dementia

Kim, Young Ja; Lee, Pyoung Sook

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the burdent on families who live with an elderly person suffering from senile dementia, and the degree of their depression. There were 400 participants in this study, staying in the Seoul and Kyonggi areas from August, 1, 1997 to February 28, 1998. Among the group, 100 participants took care of their patients at home, and another 300 participants left 100 patients at a day-care center, 100 sanatorium for senile dementia(asylum for helpless elderly people), 100 an infirmary for elderly people. Eventually 242 subjects out of the 400 were selected for the data analysis. The Zarit(1980) tool was employed to measure the degree of burden and Zung's(1965) "Self-Rating Depression Scale" was employed for the data analysis. The data was analyzed, and the percentage, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient were calculated. The results are as follows. 1. The average degree of burden that care-giving families felt was 49.13, which is somewhat high. 2. The average degree of depression that-giving families felt was 51.95, which is relatively high. 3. The degree of burden was directly affected by the relation with the patient(F=2.48, P<.05), and the socio-economic status of the family(F=5.17, P<.05). It's also affected by the patient's educational status(F=2.17, P<.05). 4. The degree of depression of the family was significantly dependent on sex(t=-2.05, P<.05), age(F=2.99, P<.05), the relationship with the patient(F=3.65, P<.01), socio-economic status(F=7.74, P<.001), occupation(t=2.82, P<.01), health status(F=4.42, P<.01), and the place of residence(F=4.30, P<.01). The patient characteristics was significantly dependent on his/her educational status(F=3.85, P<.01), the period of suffering from senile dementia(F=2.47, P<.05), and smoking habit(F=6.17, P<.001). 5. The relationship between the degree of burden and that of depression reads r=0.43, which is statistically positive correlation in the high significant level. Upon analyzing the entire summation, most care-giver for elderly patients suffering from senile dementia lack time in caring for themselves. They also experience chronic fatigue and mental discomfort caused by the isolation from society, curtailment of certain activities, a sense of responsibility of certain activities, a sense of responsibility for their patients, and limits of their endurance in taking care of their patients over time. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the necessity for the following propositions : 1. In order to measure the degree of burden that Korean care-giving families undergo, a new tool must be developed on the basis of Korean culture. 2. An educational program based on the demands that care-giving families undergo must e developed, and its clinical effect also has to be examined.