Elderly Psychiatric Patient Status and Caregiver Perceptions as Predictors of Caregiver Burden

Aspects of patient status and caregiver perceptions considered important contributors to caregiver burden were examined in a sample of 46 pairs of elderly psychiatric patients and their caregivers. The patients had been referred to a geriatric assessment unit. Significant predictors of caregiver burden included disruptive patient behavior, caregiver distress, and patients' functional limitations. The results, and those from previous studies, suggested that predictors of caregiver burden vary with the elderly patients' diagnoses.