Burden of care among caregivers of patients with Parkinson disease: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: Parkinson disease (PD) affects the lives of both the individuals and their family members. This study aims at investigating for clinical as well as socio-demographic factors associated with the perception of burden among the caregivers of individuals with PD in Malaysia.
Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study on PD patients and their caregivers who attended the neurology clinics of 2 tertiary hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. Socio-demographic and clinical data of the patients were obtained, including caregivers' perception of burden using the Caregiver's Burden Scale (CBS).
Results: The patients' mean age was 62.12±9.69 years, almost half of them were in stage 2 of their illness, had developed PD at the age of 50-69 and had duration of illness of less than 5 years. The caregivers were mostly females and a third of them were wives. Factors which were significantly associated with increased caregiver burden were patients' advancing age, later stage of illness and those having longer duration of caring. Caregivers' perceived burden was related to their race gender, social status, kinship with patient or duration of care-giving.
Conclusion: Burden of care is significantly more in PD patients of advanced age and stage of illness.
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