Resumo

PEREZ PERDOMO, Marta  e  LLIBRE RODRIGUEZ, Juan de Jesús. Sociodemographic characteristics and level of overburden in caregivers of the elderly with Alzheimer´s disease. Rev Cubana Enfermer [online]. 2010, vol.26, n.3, pp.110-122. ISSN 0864-0319.

Alzheimer´s disease not only affects the sufferer but also has a significant impact on the family. The relatives of the sick person are the ones that mostly act as caregivers 24 hours a day. The objective of this study was to describe the sociodemographic characteristics and the level of overburden of the informal caregivers of older adults with mild and moderate dementia. A descriptive study of 75 caregivers of older adults affected by mild and moderate dementia, who had gone to the Cognitive Disorders Department in "Carlos J. Finlay" hospital, was conducted. Some of the sociodemographic characteristics found in this study were: females, the 40-49 years age group, and kinship predominated in the studied caregivers. Besides, they were mostly married and workers; and the caregivers of older adults with moderate dementia evinced higher level of overburden than those of the elderly with mild dementia or at the initial phases of Alzheimer´s disease.

Palavras-chave : elderly; Alzheimer´s disease; mild dementia; moderate dementia; caregivers; overburden.

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