title: Caregiver burden: the strongest predictor of self-rated health in caregivers of patients with dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  People having dementia need help and supervision to perform their activities of daily living. This responsibility is usually imposed on family members who endure a great burden, leading to undesirable health outcomes. The aims of our study were to measure caregivers' health as well as identify its adjusted relevant predictors.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty three registered patients and their caregivers from Iranian Alzheimer Association were included in this cross-sectional study through sequential sampling. Self-rated health (SRH) was measured using a single question with Likert-type scale ranging from very bad (1) to very good (5). The multiple linear regression model was applied to determine the adjusted associations between independent variables under study and SRH.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean caregiver SRH level was 3.03. Of the participant caregivers, 29% were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their health level. In the final regression model, SRH showed a direct significant association with the patient's number of children but an inverse significant association with the marital status (married patients), patient's age, and caregiver burden.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caregiver burden was not only significantly associated with poor SRH after removing the effect of the other covariates but it was also recognized as the strongest predictor of caregivers' SRH. Therefore, it seems that development of intervention programs, in order to reduce caregiver burden, can be considered as important step in promoting caregivers' health level.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran i-abdollahpour@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abdollahpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saharnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nedjat
authors.affiliation: Memory and Behavioral Neurology Department, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noroozian
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department of Public Health School, Kermanshah University of Medical Science, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Yahya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Salimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Majdzadeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Alzheimer’s; Iran; caregiver burden; dementia; self-rated health