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Relationship between Care Burden and Health Anxiety in the Family Caregivers of the Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease

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Abstract

Background: Being a chronic and prevalent disease in older adults, Alzheimer’s disease requires extensive and long-term care from caregivers. The disease significantly increases the burden on family caregivers and can cause physical and mental disorders for them, ultimately hindering their ability to provide adequate care for the patients. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between care burden and health anxiety among the family caregivers of the older adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Materials and Methods: A correlational cross-sectional study enrolled 150 family caregivers who had been providing direct care to older adults with Alzheimer’s disease for at least six months, chosen by continuous sampling. The study collected data using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) and Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI-18) at the Iranian Alzheimer’s Association in 2021. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 25, employing independent t-tests, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Results: The results indicated that 75 (50%) caregivers had a moderate level of health anxiety, while 43.3% of them reported being anxious about their health to a poor degree. Additionally, 46.6% and 43.3% of caregivers experienced moderate and intense care burden, respectively. Among the other variables studied such as age, sex, level of education, marital status, and economic status, only health anxiety was found to predict the care burden in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (P < 0.001). (CI95% Health anxiety: 52.80–58.81, CI95% Care burden: 71.89–79.90, R2: 11.9%). Conclusion: Since there is a significant relationship observed between health anxiety and care burden, it is important for health professionals and caregivers of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease to prioritize the health of the caregivers. This requires special attention from healthcare providers.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the staff of IDAA, AD patients, and family caregivers who generously cooperated with us in conducting this research.

Funding

This work was funded by the Student Research Committee, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Mohammad Sadegh Sargolzaei

  2. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran

    Daniyal Kohestani

  3. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1996713883, Iran

    Tahereh Alsadat Khoubbin Khoshnazar & Hossein Asghari Asl

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  1. Mohammad Sadegh Sargolzaei
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Mohammad Sadegh Sargolzaei, Hossein Asghari Asl and Daniyal Kohestani. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tahereh Alsadat Khoubbin Khoshnazar and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hossein Asghari Asl.

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Ethics Approval

The ethical principles of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards were followed. The study obtained the approval of the ethics committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences (IR.IUMS.REC.1399.1047). After receiving a letter of introduction from the university, the researcher referred to the clinic and arranged the necessary coordination with IDAA authorities

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The participants were provided with necessary explanations about the research process. Also, they were assured about the fact that their participation in the study was voluntary and their data would remain confidential.

Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

There are no conflicts of interest by any of the authors of this study. All authors have participated in (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) approval of the final version. This manuscript has not been submitted to, nor is under review at, another journal or other publishing venue. The authors have no affiliation with any organization with a direct or indirect financial interest in the subject matter discussed in the manuscript.

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Sargolzaei, M.S., Kohestani, D., Khoubbin Khoshnazar, T. et al. Relationship between Care Burden and Health Anxiety in the Family Caregivers of the Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease. Ageing Int 49, 280–292 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-023-09545-6

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