Qualidade de vida dos cuidadores de idosos com comprometimento cognitivo e o apoio dos profissionais da atenção primária à saúde

Abstract

Introduction: At this beginning of the 21st century, dementias arise as an important public health matter as the interest of the global community for the matter grows due to its growing occurrence, with impactful consequences to the family lives, and especially to the direct caregiver. The deteriorating quality of life as well as the the physical, mental and social commitment are among the problems faced by caregiver, who require health care support. Objective: Evaluate the quality of life of informal caregivers of elderly with cognitive impairments as well as the support given to them by Primary Health Care professionals. Methodology: Quantitative research, descriptive, performed in 2017, in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The data gathering was performed by a survey containing queries related to sociodemographic aspects, quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref) and overburden (Zarity Burden). Results: 137 caregivers were surveyed, being the majority women, married, elderly, living in the same residence as the elderly care receiver, living with an income of up to two times the minimum wage and possessing a lower level of education. The quality of life, evaluated in a score of 0 to 100, resulted in an average of 68,5 points in the physical domain, 62,6 for the psychological, 70,4 for the social relationship and 59,1 for the environmental domain, the higher the score, the higher the quality of life. As for the global health evaluation, the majority (83.9%) considered their health good (64,2%) and were satisfied. Advanced ages, lower income and level of education, morbidities presence, non-use of basic health services, extensive caring hours and clinical diagnosis of dementias were variables associated to the bad life quality of the caregivers. Conclusion: the findings reiterate important aspects of the social determination indicated in the literature, possibilitating the identification of the caregivers’ profile, reflecting upon the primary health care professional support to the caregivers’ quality of life.