OBJECTIVES: To evaluate quality of life among caregivers of elders with Alzheimer's disease and to examine the relationship between patients' quality of life score measured with the Katz Quality of Life Index and the relationship between the caregivers' quality of life measured with the SF-36 and depression score measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). METHODS: This study was conducted in a geriatric clinic (Núcleo de Envelhecimento Cerebral) of the São Paulo Hospital of the Federal University of São Paulo. The sample consisted of 118 patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Sociodemographic and cormobidity data and the Katz score of quality of life and the mini-mental status examination (MMSE) score of the patients with Alzheimer's disease were obtained through chart review. Data from caregivers comprised sociodemographic and comorbidity data and the SF-36 score of quality of life and the BDI score of depression. RESULTS: SF-36 scores that were indicative of depression among caregivers were vitality (score = 56.8) and the scores on physical and emotional components were = 58.1, respectively. There was a significantly negative correlation between the caregivers' BDI score and the patients' Katz score, and between the caregivers' SF-36 and BDI scores. There was also a significantly positive correlation between the scores of the caregivers' SF-36 and the patients' Katz scores and between the patient's Katz and MMSE scores. CONCLUSION: The quality of life of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease was compromised, which could influence the quality of care they provided to the patients. The quality of life of the caregivers got worse when the functional capacity of the elders with Alzheimer's disease was compromised.
Caregivers; Alzheimer disease; Quality of life; Family nursing
