[Mental health and related factors with family caregivers for elderly in special-care nursing homes for the aged].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health and related factors with family caregivers for the elderly in special-care nursing homes for the aged.


METHODS
We conducted a questionnaire survey among family caregivers for elderly living in three special-care nursing homes in Tokyo. The questionnaire included factors from the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) pertaining to family caregivers, the elderly, and the relationships between them. The GHQ-28 was used to measure the mental health of the caregivers and a logistic regression model was applied for the analysis.


RESULTS
Of the 145 family caregivers surveyed, 59 (40.7%) exhibited low mental health (GHQ-28> or = 7). The logistic regression analysis revealed that family caregivers with low mental health had lower social support (OR: 0.10 (0.03-0.29)) and had longer visiting times (OR: 5.80 (1.79-18.82)).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that many family caregivers for elderly persons in institutions may have poor mental health and that it is necessary to provide them with support. It is concluded that self-help groups for families and the promotion of communication between the elderly and their family caregivers might be effective for this purpose.
Mie Prefectural College of Nursing.
Hiroki
H
Fukahori
Yuichi
Y
Sugai
Yoko
Y
Mizuno
Noriko
N
Matsui
Chieko
C
Sugishita
D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014041:Tokyo