Caregiver burden and health promotion

Few of the studies describing caregiver stress and burden have focused on t he effects of caregiving on the ability of the caregiver to attend to his o r her own health needs. Therefore, the major purpose of this study was to i nvestigate whether the perception of burden is related to the health-promot ing behaviors of caregivers of the elderly. One hundred twenty-one predomin antly female caregivers, mean age 61.1 years, S.D. = 13.4, completed questi onnaires measuring demographic and health-related factors, the Objective an d Subjective Burden Scales, and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile. Fin dings suggest that those perceiving lower subjective burden practice more h ealth-promoting behaviors than those with higher subjective burden scores, confirming Fender's contention that situational factors, such as caregiver burden, may affect health promotion. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.