Diferencias de género en la sobrecarga e implicación en el cuidado familiar de mayores dependientes

  1. Rafael del Pino Casado
  2. Antonio Frías Osuna
  3. Pedro A. Palomino Moral
  4. Martín D. Millán Cobo
Journal:
Revista Iberoamericana de Enfermería Comunitaria: RIdEC

ISSN: 1988-5474

Year of publication: 2010

Volume: 3

Issue: 2

Pages: 12-18

Type: Article

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Sustainable development goals

Abstract

Objectives: to analyze gender differences in subjective overload and involvement in care (objective burden and duration) in family caregivers (FCG) of dependent elderly. Material and methods: cross sectional study on a random sample of 204 primary family caregivers of dependent elderly. Variables: gender, age, kinship, common residence, subjective overload, objective burden (dedication to the care, complexity of care and need of care of person cared for) and duration. Data collection by interviews. Statistical analysis: frequency tables, measures of central tendency and dispersion, confidence intervals, Student’s T test for independent groups and multiple linear regression. Results: there were no were statistically significant differences in gender (p <0.05), involvement in care (objective burden and duration), and subjective overload (both in bivariate analysis and in multivariate analysis controlling the objective burden and duration). Conclusions: previous results, along with those of major surveys conducted at national level, support the existence of a specific cultural pattern of informal care o the Mediterranean model, where there are no gender differences in involvement in the care of primary family caregivers, because men start acting as main caregivers once they have exhausted all female resources and the possibility of internment is considered. The absence of gender differences in subjective overload in this study, coupled with the fact that in other studies where there are gender differences, they disappear when controlling the objective burden, supports the hypothesis that when there are gender differences in overload, these are due to unequal gender distribution of objective burden. This hypothesis could also be explained by the above specific cultural pattern, but in any case, it is a hypothesis that needs further investigation.

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