Analysis of burden of family caregivers and its influencing factors in elderly patients with chronic heart failure

Objective To investigate the burden of family caregivers in elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and its influencing factors. Methods A total of 235 elderly patients with CHF and their caregivers from Cardiology Department, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University were surveyed by questionnaire using the general information scale of patients and caregivers, Self-Management Ability Scale of Heart Failure Patients and Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview. In this study, 235 questionnaires were distributed and 208 valid questionnaires were collected. Results The total ZBI score of the 208 patients with CHF was (33.6±10.4) , with an overall moderate burden. The burden level of caregivers can be affected by age, way of payment, cardiac function classification and self-management level of patients with CHF (P<0.05) . Caregivers' age, living conditions, working conditions and daily care time can affect their burden level (P<0.05) . Conclusions Elderly patients with CHF have a relatively high overall burden. Medical staff should provide individual professional support and humanistic care to caregivers according to the specific conditions of patients' families, so as to improve the overall burden level of caregivers. Key words: Aged; Chronic heart failure; Caregiver; Burden; Influencing factors