Burden among family caregivers of person with dementia (PWD) in Malaysia: prevalence, associated factors and its effect on quality of life

• Main Authors: Syed Ahmad, Syarifah Amirah, Nasreen, Hashima E
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: The APRA Publications 2023
• Subjects: RA644.3 Chronic and Noninfectious Diseases and Public Health; RA790 Mental Health. Mental Illness Prevention
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/106281/13/106281_Burden%20among%20family%20caregivers%20of%20person%20with%20dementia.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/106281/; http://www.connectingasia.org.
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Background: Research on burden and quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of a person with dementia (PWD) is lacking in low- and middle-income countries including Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the associated factors of caregiving burden and how the burden influence the QOL among dementia caregivers in Malaysia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and the data was derived from the baseline survey of a randomised control trial study. 121 family caregivers of PWD was recruited from three tertiary hospitals in Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur. The validated Malay version of Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) with cut off value of &ge:22 was used to measure the prevalence of burden and validated Malay version of Control, Autonomy, Self-Realisation and Pleasure (CASP-19) was used to measure the QOL. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses identified the associated factors of the caregiving burden and the effect of burden on QOL among family caregivers of PWD. Results: The prevalence of caregiving burden among family caregivers was 69.4%. The caregivers were protected from the caregiving burden if they were currently married (AOR=0.22, 95% CI: 0.60-0.82), PWD were able to self-care (AOR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.11-0.76) and the caregivers had adequate perceived social support (AOR-096 95% CI: 0.93-0.99) primarily family support (AOR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.98) and significant others (AOR-0.90, 95% CI: 0.82-0.99). Caregiving burden was negatively associated with caregivers QOL (&beta;= -0.53, 95% CI: -03 -0.23: -0.635, p<0.001). Caregiving burden is highly prevalent among family caregivers of PWD in Malaysia. Policy-maker should consider the implementation of telephone-delivered psychoeducational intervention considering the cost and time constraint to support family caregivers in order to reduce their burden and improve their QOL.