Quality of life of family caregivers for disabled dependent patients receiving home care as part of the Municipal Family Health Program of São Paulo / Qualidade de vida de cuidadores de pacientes com perdas funcionais e dependência atendidos em domicílio pelo programa de saúde da família do município de São Paulo

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2007

RESUMO

In Brazil, the study of home health care of people with disabilities and dependency and their caregivers is growing in importance due to demographic and epidemiological changes in the country. With the introduction of the Family Health Program, the registration of families in Primary Care by community health agents brought to light the health needs of these patients, who were previously confined to their homes and to their caregivers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of family caregivers of patients with disabilities and dependency, served by family healthcare teams, in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, health conditions, level of perceived burden and degree of functional independence of the patient. Family Health Care Program teams interviewed 66 family caregivers in the southern region of the city of São Paulo. The tools employed were: 1) characterization of the family caregiver and patient; 2) WHOQOL-bref, for the subjective evaluation of quality of life; 3) Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), to evaluate caregiver burden, and 4) Functional Independence Measure Scale (FIM), to evaluate the functional capacity of patients. The caregivers were mostly women (83.3%), married (62.2%) with an average age of 50.5 years. Caregivers were daughters (37.9%) and spouses (24.2%), who cared for patients with up to 50% dependence for instrumental activities of daily living (MIF total = 57.82) and were moderately burdened (Zarit total = 32.12). The physical domain received the best quality of life score (66.72) and the worst score went to the environment domain (52.51). The amount of burden, presence of companion and presence of caregiver illness were statistically associated with general quality of life in the final multiple regression model. The results showed that caregiver quality of life is statistically correlated with perceived burden, indicating that the lower the score in all WHOQOL-bref domains, the higher the burden. No significant statistical association between degree of functional independence and caregiver quality of life was found. Effective public policies designed to offer a network of support services for families of people with dependence and functional loss are essential to reduce the burden placed on caregivers and consequently improve quality of life for them and their families

ASSUNTO(S)

atenção básica primary care zbi home care whoqol-bref whoqol-bref quality of life fim cuidadores familiares cuidados domiciliários family caregivers mif qualidade de vida zbi

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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