Introduction:

dementia is one of the most important health problems of the 21st century. It is considered the first cause of disability in elder adults and the one that generates greater dependence, need for care, economic overburden and psychological stress in the caregiver.

Objective:

to characterize the main caregiver of patients with dementia.

Materials and methods:

a cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out on caregivers of elder adults with dementia in the municipality of Cardenas, in the period from June 2018 to July 2019. It included the main caregivers of patients with dementia, who appeared in the medical records and performed this function for more than six months. The Zarit scale that measures the perception of overburden or stress was applied to the caregiver.

Conclusions:

in the study, the age group of greater significance was the 50-59-years one, with predominance of the female gender. Most of caregivers lived with the patient, predominating those dedicated for five years or more to this work. Light overburden prevailed, followed by intense, and a minimum of caregivers did not show overburden.

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