title: Assessment of the burden of caregiving for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on the quality of life of caregivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out with forty-two COPD patients and their primary caregivers. Patients were assessed with the medical outcome survey short form (SF-36), the physical and mental component summary (PCS and MCS), Saint George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), 6-min walking test, and spirometric and blood gas measurements. Caregivers were assessed using the medical outcome survey short form (SF-36), the physical and mental component summary (PCS and MCS), the 5-point Likert scale for measuring caregiver/patient relationships and the caregiver burden scale (CB scale).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of caregivers were female (85.3%), married (59%) and had low levels of income and schooling. The mean age was 51.6+/-16 years. Mean caregiver PCS and MCS scores were 45.9+/-10 and 46+/-12, while the mean total burden score was 1.79+/-0.6. The regression analysis showed caregiver/patient relationship quality, caregiver MCS scores and patient PCS scores to be important predictors of burden and explained 63% of the variance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  COPD causes a significant impact on the quality of life of caregivers. The two most important predictors of COPD burden are the relationship between caregivers and patients and caregiver MCS scores.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Marcelo A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Holanda
authors.forename: Marta M C
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.forename: Rosa M S
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mota
authors.forename: Eanes D B
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index