OBJECTIVES: To assess the burden of caregivers of frail elders living at home; to characterize elderly that are considered frail and their caregivers; to assess the degree of dependency of the elderly according to the level of frailty and to correlate it with the burden of work of their caregivers. METHODS: A transversal study with a sample of 60 caregivers and frail elderly who lived at home. Data collection was conducted in the home with frail elders and their caregivers. We used the sociodemographic profile of the elderly and the caregiver instruments, the Edmonton Frail Scale, the Functional Independence Measure for the elderly, and the Zarit Burden Interview Scale for the caregivers. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson test were employed for data analysis. RESULTS: The majority of caregivers were female (75%), married (58.3%) and were children of the elderly (45%). Regarding the burden, 31.7% said they rarely felt burdened. However, a correlation was found between frailty and burden: the higher the level of frailty, the greater the caregiver burden. CONCLUSION: It was found that the majority of caregivers were female and the greater the degree of functional dependence, the greater the degree of frailty, which elevated the level of caregiver burden.
Caregivers; Frail elderly; Geriatric nursing
