Overburden of informal caregivers of older adults with Post-COVID Syndrome.
Fabiana Carla Matos da Cunha Cintra, Marco Túlio Gualberto Cintra, Daniel Messias Martins and 5 others
PMID 42307371WHAT IT FOUND
Most caregivers of older adults with post-COVID syndrome reported burden.
Burden was linked to frailty or depression in the older adult and depressive symptoms in the caregiver. These were associations in 75 pairs, not proof of cause.
Key findings
01Caregiver burden was present in 67% of caregivers, with a mean ZBI score of 22.81 points.
02Caregiver burden scores were linked with caregiver depressive symptoms and with older adult frailty, depression, post-traumatic stress, functional disability, and cognitive decline.
03In multivariable analysis, older adult post-COVID frailty, older adult depression, and caregiver depression were associated with burden, together explaining 37% of the variation in caregiver burden scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional study with no control group, so it can show association but not cause. It used a non-probabilistic sample from one city and included mainly older adults who had been hospitalized for COVID-19, so results may not apply to all older adults with post-COVID syndrome. Only the first assessment was analyzed, so it does not show how caregiver burden changed over time. Caregiver burden was measured with self-reported questionnaires, and recall and information bias are possible. The study did not measure how long the caregiver spent with the older adult, which can affect burden. The increase in frailty after COVID-19 may also have been influenced by other illnesses or hospital readmissions between diagnosis and assessment.
Declared interests
The study was funded by FAPEMIG and CAPES-Print. It does not state other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that frailty or depression caused caregiver burden. This was a cross-sectional study without a control group, and it did not test an intervention.