Caregiver burden and depressive symptoms: analysis of common outcomes in caregivers of elderly patients.
Despite widespread use of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms in caregiving research, the relationship between these two concepts and the way in which burden and depressive symptoms are affected are not clear.


METHODS
The authors used structural equation modeling with an inception cohort of 488 family caregivers to examine the relationship between care recipients' mental and functional status and recency of care demands and caregivers' burden and depressive symptoms.


RESULTS
Care recipients' mental and functional status and recency of care demands predicted caregiver burden; burden, in turn, was nearly significant in predicting depressive symptoms. Care recipients' mental status and recency of care demands had a near significant indirect effect on caregiver depressive symptoms. There were no significant direct paths between care recipients' mental status, functional status, recency of care demands, and caregivers' depressive symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Health care practitioners should assist caregivers with new care demands stemming from care recipients' mental and functional status to decrease burdens and should monitor caregivers with higher levels of burden for the development of depressive symptoms.
Sherwood
Paula R
PR
Michigan State University, USA.
Given
Charles W
CW
Given
Barbara A
BA
von Eye
Alexander
A
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D014481:United States