772 - The relationship between care burden and quality of life in family caregivers of motor-impaired patients

Objectives: Caregivers of motor-impaired patients endure a significant caring pressure.

This study aimed to determine the level of care burden and its relationship with quality of life (QOL) in family caregivers of patients with physical disabilites.

Design: Spousal Caregivers of motor-impaired patients were recruited. The functional statuses of patients were determined using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM).

QOL was evaluated for each caregiver according to the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The level of care burden were measured using the Zarit scale (ZS).

Results: The study included 142 wife-caregivers, with a mean age of 53,09 ± 11,73 years. The mean age of impaired patients was 58,77 ± 11,35 years. 21 patients had high-grade Body Mass Index (BMI). The mean score of FIM was 25,64 ± 4,20. The average caregiving time was 5,42 ±7,56 years. The average number of weekly hours spent in caregiving was 36,82 h/per week. Regarding caregiver burden, 68.3% of cases had a higher burden level (ZS ≥ 41). Concerning the QOL: the mean SF-36 scale was 43,88± 20,8 and a poor QOL (SF-36< 66,7) was noted in 83,8% of cases. Caregiving burden was significantly associated with BMI (p< 0,001), functional statues (FIM) (p< 0,001), the duration of caregiver’s role (p< 0,001) and the number of weekly hours providing care (p< 0,001). Also, a significant association was observed between poor QOL and high burden (p< 0,001) among spousal caregivers.

Conclusions: Taking care of someone with chronic motor disabilities can be a stressful experience and may affect health and well-being.