High perceived caregiver burden for relatives of patients following hip fracture surgery

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the profile of the main informal caregivers, evolution of the caregiver burden and influencing factors of caregiver burden at 1-year after hip fracture surgery. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, a total of 172 informal caregivers of patients were interviewed during one year following hip fracture surgery in a regional hospital. The perceived caregiver burden was assessed using the Caregiver Strain Index (CSI, 0-13 points). Results: The median (Q1-Q3) age of the 172 caregivers was 54 (47-65) years, of which 133 (77%) were woman and 94 (55%) were daughters of the patient. 79 of the 172 (46%) caregivers perceived a high level of burden (CSI ≥ 7 points) at the hospital. The corresponding CSI-data for 1-month, 3-months and 1-Year were 87 (51%), 61 (35%) and 45 (26%). A low pre-fracture functional status, post-surgery complications, older age of patients and younger age of caregivers influence caregiver burden at 1-year. Conclusions: The profile of the main caregiver of hip fracture is a woman of middle age and is the daughter of the patient. The perceived caregiver burden decreased from 1-month to 1- year. More efforts are needed to avoid post-surgical complications in order to prevent caregiver burden at 1-year. Key