2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Longitudinal study of the feelings of burden in family care-givers of people with aphasia and their daily living situations
| Project/Area Number |
14510207
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
社会学(含社会福祉関係)
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima Prefectural College of Health Sciences |
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Principal Investigator |
WATAMORI Toshiko Hiroshima Prefectural College of Health Sciences, Department of Health and Welfare, Professor, 保健福祉学部, 教授 (00073023)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HONDA Rumi Hiroshima Prefectural College of Health Sciences, Department of Health and Welfare, Instructor, 保健福祉学部, 助手 (10290553)
SAGARA Taeko Hiroshima Prefectural College of Health Sciences, Department of Health and Welfare, Professor, 保健福祉学部, 教授 (60336922)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Keywords | aphasia / care-giver burden / longitudinal change |
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| Research Abstract |
We developed a 31-item care-giver burden assessment tool named Communication Burden Scale (COM-B hereafter) (version 1) that took into account the perspectives of care-givers who look after persons with communication disorders.
Study 1 We investigated feelings of burden in two groups of family care-givers of stroke patients using this tool. One is the family care-givers of people with aphasia (FCPWA) and the other is the family care-givers of people with hemiplegia of dominant hand but without aphasia (FCPWOA). Stroke patients in both groups did not differ significantly in basic ADL but people with aphasia exhibited severer problems in instrumental ADL, such as taking medication, managing financial affairs, using telephone, etc. FCPWA exhibited higher burden in items related to communication compared to FCPWOA thus confirming the validity of this assessment tool.
Study 2 We investigated the longitudinal change of feelings of burden among 10 FCPWA whose family members with aphasia belong
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to a self help group. We interviewed each FCPWA individually and asked retrospective accounts with regards to the feelings of burden during the period after hospital discharge and at present. FCPWA reported heavy burden on 24 out of 31 items during the period after hospital discharge. At present, average of 6 years after the onset, the number of items of heavy burden reduced to 7. Though considerable time has elapsed since the onset of aphasia, FCPWA continued to report heavy burden on items related to communication. Thus, our results revealed that overall feelings of burden in FCPWA do reduce with time. However, due to the importance of language and communication in family and community life, restricted communication ability of people with aphasia continued to influence FCPWA's feelings of burden. Interpretation of these findings need to be done conservatively considering the limitation of research method (retrospective investigation), they nevertheless point to important problems encountered by FCPWA.
Study 3 A nationwide survey was conducted to verify the reliability of 30-item COM-B (final version) and cross-sectional change of feelings of burden according to the time elapsed since the onset of aphasia. 353 valid responses were obtained. The items that showed heavy burden were almost identical to those found to be characteristic of FCPWA compared to FCPWOA in Study 1. They are : anxiety for the health condition of the person under care, and anxiety for FCPWA's own emergency. These items were not related to the severity of aphasia and thus appeared to be the characteristic burden of FCPWA in general. Age (older age) and health condition (less healthy) of FCPWA were associated with increased burden. Dependency in ADL and severity of aphasia of persons under care negatively related to FCPWA's burden. The relationship between the time elapsed since the onset of aphasia and the feelings of burden did not reach statistical significance in cross-sectional analysis. This may be due to the limitation of research method using cross-sectional investigation. Sufficient reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's α (α=.95). Less
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