Greater Burden (greater + burden)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Gender, kinship and caregiver burden: the case of community-dwelling memory impaired seniors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 8 2003
Neale R. Chumbler
Abstract Background This study examined whether there were gender and kinship (spouse, child, more distant relative) differences in caregiver burden. It further examined the constellation of gender and kinship by examining whether adult daughter caregivers experienced greater burden compared to wives, husbands, sons, and other more distant relatives. Methods The sample consisted of 305 family caregivers of memory-impaired individuals who were age 70 years or older and resided in non-institutional settings in Arkansas. A cross-sectional design was employed using validated measures to assess both the memory-impaired elders' and family caregivers' self-reported physical and memory status. Results After controlling for the age and health status characteristics of the memory-impaired elder, sociodemographic and health status characteristics of the family caregiver, and the caregiver coping response (measured by the sense of coherence), multiple regression analyses found kinship, but not gender differences in caregiver burden. Adult children experienced more caregiver burden than more distant relatives. There were no significant differences in caregiver burden between adult children and spouses. Adult daughters had greater caregiver burden scores compared to more distant relatives, but had comparable scores to wives, sons, and husbands. Other significant correlates of burden included caregiver personal characteristics (age and ethnicity) and the sense of coherence. Conclusions The study discusses the practice implications of adult children and adult daughters' propensity to suffer burden when caring for their memory-impaired parents living in the community. It also discusses the relevance of caregiver personal characteristics and the sense of coherence as correlates of burden. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Unmet Desire for Caregiver-Patient Communication and Increased Caregiver Burden

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2005
Terri R. Fried MD
Objectives: To examine the adequacy of caregiver-patient communication in serious illness and its relationship to caregiver burden. Design: Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting: Participants' homes. Participants: One hundred ninety-three persons aged 60 and older seriously ill with cancer, congestive heart failure, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and their caregivers. Measurements: Communication concerns, measured in terms of agreement with statements regarding desire for and difficulty with communication about the patient's illness. Caregiver burden, measured using a 10-item subset of the Zarit Burden Inventory, with scores ranging from 0 to 40 and higher scores indicating greater burden. Results: Of caregivers, 39.9% desired more communication, and 37.3% reported that communication was difficult. Of patients, 20.2% desired more communication, and 22.3% reported that communication was difficult. Disagreement regarding communication concerns was frequent in caregiver-patient pairs; of caregivers who desired more communication, 83.1% of patients did not, and of patients who desired more communication, 66.7% of caregivers did not. Caregivers who desired more communication had significantly higher caregiver burden scores than did caregivers who did not (9.2 vs 4.7, P<.001), even after adjusting for patient's diagnosis, income, and functional status and caregivers' age, sex, and relationship to the patient. Conclusion: A large proportion of caregivers and seriously ill older persons had an unmet desire for increased communication, although they frequently disagreed with each other about this desire. Caregivers' desire for increased communication may be a modifiable determinant of caregiver burden. [source]


Meeting the Challenge to Improve the Treatment of Hypertension in Blacks

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 6 2003
Antonio Alberto Lopes MD
Hypertension is more prevalent and severe in African descendent populations living outside Africa than in any other population. Given this greater burden of hypertension in blacks, it is increasingly necessary to refine strategies to prevent the disorder as well as improve its treatment and control. This review assesses results from clinical trials on lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to identify which approaches most effectively prevent adverse hypertension-related outcomes in African descendent populations. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study provided evidence that a carefully controlled diet rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, and reduced in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol (i.e., the DASH diet) reduces blood pressure in blacks and is well accepted. The combination of the DASH diet with reduction in dietary sodium below 100 mmol/d may provide a reduction in blood pressure beyond that reached by the DASH diet alone. Physical exercise and interventions to reduce psychological stress may also reduce blood pressure in blacks. Strong evidence from numerous studies is a compelling argument for continuing to recommend diuretics and , blockers as first-line antihypertensive therapy for persons of all races. Some new studies also favor angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors as first-line antihypertensive drugs. The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension provided evidence that an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-based treatment program is more beneficial than calcium channel blockers and , blockers in reducing the progression of renal failure in blacks with hypertensive nephropathy. Studies in patients with diabetes have also shown evidence that both angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor antagonists are more effective than other classes of antihypertensives in reducing adverse renal events. Studies to evaluate the effects of the new antihypertensives in improving outcomes in blacks living outside the United States are needed. [source]


Care dependency of children in Egypt

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 3 2008
Hanan Tork RN
Aims., This study aimed to modify the Care Dependency Scale so that it could be used for children, to apply its Arabic version to Egyptian children to test the reliability and validity of the modified scale and to compare the care dependency of disabled and non-disabled Egyptian children. Background., A higher dependence of children in their daily tasks undoubtedly places a greater burden on their caregivers. To estimate the extent of the problem of care dependency, data from different countries and proper standard instruments are required. Method., The Care Dependency Scale was modified for children by Delphi technique. This study assessed the care dependency of non-disabled children compared with children with physical and mental disabilities using the modified version of the Care Dependency Scale for paediatrics. The total sample included 260 Egyptian school-age children (50·8% of whom were disabled and 49·2% were non-disabled). Results., Reliability was examined in terms of internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha (0·91). Inter-rater reliability revealed moderate to very good Kappa statistics between 0·57,0·89. Content validity and criterion validity were evaluated. Differences regarding care dependency were found between disabled and non-disabled children. Conclusion., The psychometric properties of the Care Dependency Scale for paediatrics support its usefulness in measuring the care dependency of children in Egypt. This study provides an Arabic version of the Care Dependency Scale for paediatrics that is easy to administer and may be useful to measure the care dependency in various Arabic countries. Relevance to clinical practice., The findings raise concerns regarding the extent to which disabled and also non-disabled school-age children are care dependent leading to an increased burden of care on nurses or on caregivers in general. The Care Dependency Scale for Paediatrics can help nurses conduct an appropriate assessment of children's care dependency so that any nursing care can be planned according to the children's needs. [source]


Care dependency among school-aged children: Literature review

NURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES, Issue 2 2007
Hanan Tork rn
Abstract, Many disabilities and chronic illnesses of children result in those children being dependent on their caregivers. The higher dependence of children in their daily tasks undoubtedly places a greater burden on their caregivers and on care-providers in the health-care system, especially nurses. The objectives were to gain an overview of the literature dealing with care dependency among children and the factors possibly influencing their dependency on care, and to obtain instruments for measuring children's care dependency. MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsychINFO were searched for different publications from 1995 to 2005. The literature reveals four categories of factors associated with care dependency of the child. With respect to instruments, a variety of instruments were identified but most of them were restricted to children with specific health conditions. For this reason, the paper suggests the development of a new instrument for assessing children's care dependency that is applicable to healthy children. [source]


Chronic fatigue in adolescence,autonomic dysregulation and mental health: an exploratory study

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 8 2009
Helene Gjone
Abstract Aim:, The present study investigates associations between autonomic cardiovascular dysregulation, psychosocial load and mental health in adolescents presenting with chronic fatigue. Method:, Twenty-two adolescents, mean age 15.7 years (12.7,19.1), underwent a clinical mental health examination as part of a broad medical investigation which included autonomic tests. Adolescents and their parents were also interviewed with regard to psychosocial stress factors, family health and previous illnesses. A count of psychosocial load was made for each adolescent based on the interview. Results:, Of 22 fatigued adolescents in the present sample, 14 had psychiatric diagnoses. There was no significant difference in psychosocial load for the fatigued adolescents classified with normal autonomic regulation compared to those with deviant or borderline autonomic regulation. The present psychiatric diagnosis did not differ between the two groups. In a subsample, there was a significant negative association between depressive symptoms and abnormal blood pressure responses during orthostatic challenge. Conclusion:, No significant psychiatric or psychosocial differences between fatigued adolescents with or without autonomic dysregulation were found in this study. The trends towards higher psychosocial load and greater burden of depressive symptoms in fatigued adolescents with normal autonomic regulation warrant further studies. [source]


The impact of childhood conditions and concurrent morbidities on child health and well-being

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008
E. Waters
Abstract Background Understanding the impact of illnesses and morbidities experienced by children and adolescents is essential to clinical and population health programme decision making and intervention research. This study sought to: (1) examine the population prevalence of physical and mental health conditions for children and quantify their impact on multiple dimensions of children's health and well-being; and (2) examine the cumulative effect of concurrent conditions. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional school-based epidemiological study of 5414 children and adolescents aged 5,18 years, and examined parental reports of child health and well-being using the parent-report Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) PF50 13 scales are scored on a 0,100 pt scale with clinically meaningful differences of five points and the presence of childhood conditions (illnesses and health problems). Results Asthma, dental, vision and allergies are the most commonly identified health problems for children and adolescents, followed by attention- and behaviour-related problems (asthma 17.9,23.2%, dental 11.9,22.7%, vision 7.2,14.7%, chronic allergies 8.8,13.9%, attention problems 5.1,13.8% and behaviour problems 5.7,12.0%). As the number of concurrent health problems increase, overall health and well-being decreases substantively with mean differences in CHQ scale scores of 14 points (,7.69 to ,21.51) for physical health conditions, and 28 points (,5.15 to ,33.81) for mental health conditions. Conclusions Children's health and well-being decreases linearly with increasing presence and frequency of health problems. Having three or more conditions concurrently significantly burdens children's health and well-being, particularly for family-related CHQ domains, with a greater burden experienced for mental health conditions than physical health conditions. [source]