Comparison of cognitive performance and aspects of the care context in elderly caregivers in Brazil: A follow-up study

ABSTRACT. Cognitive health is important for the quality of life and well-being of elderly caregivers. Cognitive impairments can negatively affect the ability to care for oneself and others. Objective: To compare cognitive performance and aspects of the care context in elderly caregivers of older adults in a three-year follow-up investigation Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted of 61 elderly caregivers treated in primary care in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo with data collected in 2014 and 2017. Sociodemographic characteristics, the care context, cognition, performance for activities of daily living, burden and depressive symptoms were collected in individual interviews. Data analysis was performed to compare categorical and continuous variables. Results: Significant increases were found between baseline and follow-up for the language domain score of the cognitive evaluation (p=0.024), receipt of material support (p=0.020), time providing care (p=0.045) and dependence of elderly care recipient for basic activities of daily living (p=0.042). Conclusion: Elderly caregivers performed better on the domain of language, received more material/financial support, spent more time on care and reported greater dependence of the elderly care recipient.

摘要
认知健康对于老年照护者的生活质量与主观幸福感至关重要。认知功能损害会对自我照护及照护他人的能力产生负面影响。
研究目的：通过一项为期三年的追踪调查，对比老年照护者的认知表现与照护环境相关维度。
研究方法：本研究为纵向研究（longitudinal study），纳入巴西圣保罗州内陆某城市基层医疗（primary care）就诊的61名老年照护者，数据分别于2014年与2017年采集。通过个人访谈收集受试者的社会人口学特征、照护环境、认知功能、日常生活活动（Activities of Daily Living, ADL）能力、照护负担（care burden）及抑郁症状（depressive symptoms）等数据，并采用统计学方法对分类变量与连续变量进行比较分析。
研究结果：相较于基线（baseline）评估，随访阶段受试者的认知评估语言维度得分（p=0.024）、物质支持获取情况（p=0.020）、照护时长（p=0.045）以及老年被照护者的日常生活基本活动依赖程度（p=0.042）均出现显著升高。
研究结论：老年照护者在语言认知维度表现更佳，获得了更多物质/经济支持，投入了更多照护时长，且报告其照护对象的依赖程度更高。