Analysis of the burden and quality of life of elderly carers

The aim of this study was to assess the burden and quality of life of carers of dependent elderly people in an area covered by the Family Health Strategy of a major city in the macro-region of Minas Gerais. This was a cross-sectional observational study carried out by applying an instrument to a statistically significant simple random sample. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 21.0 with a 5% level of evidence, with continuous variables analysed using the Student's t-test and dichotomous variables using the chi-squared test. It was found that only 5.7% of the elderly have carers, of the elderly in that region have carers, and 100% of carers are female with an average age of 54.41 years, ranging from 34 to 81 years. Of the carers (35.3%), 23.53% were formal carers aged over 60. The average burden measured by the Zarit questionnaire was 33 (SD=15.81), ranging from 4 to 62(0-88). The SF-36 scale showed an average of 58.04 (SD=22.92), ranging from 21.2 to 95.1. The SF-36 values are measured in eight domains: functional capacity, physical limitations, pain, general state of health, vitality and social aspects.