재가 치매노인을 돌보는 주 간호자의 스트레스와 건강상태

Stress and Health Status of Primary Caregivers Caring for Demented Elderly

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the stress level and health status of primary caregivers living with demented elderly. Method: The subject was 92 primary caregivers who had been taking care of demented elderly at home. The research tools were a stress questionnaire and health status questionnaire. The data were collected through direct interview with a questionnaire in the B city, from February to March 2004. The data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and Scheffe test using SPSS/PC 11.0 program. Results: The primary caregivers living with demented elderly showed slightly high level of stress and moderate level of health status. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the stress level and the mental and the physical health status. Conclusion: Based on the results, we recommend the development of an intervention program to decrease the stress level of primary caregivers living with demented elderly for improving their health status.