Inpatient dependency in activities of daily living predicts informal caregiver strain: A cross‐sectional study

José Manuel Pérez Mármol, María Luz Flores Antigüedad, Adelaida María Castro Sánchez, Rosa María Tapia Haro, María del Carmen García Ríos and María Encarnación Aguilar Ferrándiz

Journal of Clinical Nursing, 2018, vol. 27, issue 1-2, e177-e185

Abstract: Aims and Objectives To investigate what factors influence caregiver strain in informal caregivers just before inpatients are discharged. Background Previous research has investigated the risk factors related to the burden on caregivers in different clinical contexts. However, the findings from studies analysing these factors just before inpatients are discharged are uncertain. Design A cross‐sectional study design. Methods The study involved 100 inpatients and 100 informal caregivers from seven different hospital units. Sociodemographic, clinical, functional and cognitive factors of inpatients–caregivers, and caregiver strains were recorded. Descriptive, bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed. Results Caregivers of inpatients at risk of ulcers had significantly higher scores of strain. Dependency in activities of daily living scores and cognitive status scores were statistically inversely proportional to caregiver strain. Almost 27% of total variance of caregiver strain was due to dependency in activities of daily living. Conclusions Caregiver strain was mainly associated with those situations in which the hospitalised patients presented the risk of ulcers, dependency and cognitive disorders, with dependency in activities of daily living being the factor that most influenced informal caregiver strain. Relevance to clinical practice Dependency in activities of daily living, among other risk factors, should be evaluated at an early stage, monitored and controlled by hospital nursing staff. These strategies could protect and promote the well‐being and quality of life of informal caregivers during patient hospitalisation and after discharge.

Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13900

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:jocnur:v:27:y:2018:i:1-2:p:e177-e185

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Clinical Nursing from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().