EFFECT OF OUTPATIENT GERIATRIC EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT TREATMENT ON CAREGIVER PERCEPTION OF BURDEN (CAREGIVER BURDEN, ELDERLY PATIENTS).
Contributors: Memphis State University.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Gerontology.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Industrial.
Description: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of outpatient geriatric evaluation and management unit (GEMU) treatment of elderly patients on the caregivers of those patients. The data analysis consisted of comparing mean differences between the intervention group and the control group of caregivers for study outcomes of burden, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and self-reported health at initial, three-month, and six-month assessment. Scores on the Cost of Care Index (burden), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and two Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scales (health satisfaction and life satisfaction) were examined by a mixed design analysis of variance MANOVA to see if there was a significant difference between the two groups (clinic and control).

The caregivers for both groups were predominantly female and family members. At baseline there were no differences between caregivers of the control patients and caregivers of the GEMU clinic patients. Over the six month study period, the following significant differences were found. Compared to the caregivers of the elderly controls, the caregivers of the elderly patients undergoing the outpatient geriatric evaluation and management treatment identified: (1) significantly less burden of care (p $\leq$ 0.001); (2) significantly fewer depressive symptoms (p $\leq$ 0.001); (3) significantly higher self-reported health perception (p = 0.03); and (4) significantly higher self-reported life satisfaction (p = 0.02).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-04, Section: A, page: 1503.

Thesis (ED.D.)--MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY, 1993.

School code: 0124.