Characteristics and Factors Associated with Ability of Caregivers to Care for Hemodialysis Patients

BACKGROUND: The care ability of caregivers markedly impacts the patient’ s quality of life and such ability may be influenced by various factors. This study aimed to explore the factors affected the care ability of caregivers for hemodialysis patients. MATERIAL/METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 271 caregivers of hemodialysis patients. Various basic sociodemographic data of patients and caregivers were collected using questionnaires. The care abilities of caregivers were evaluated by the Caregiver Task Inventory (CTI). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify the independent factors associated with the care ability of caregiver. The independent samples t test was used to further explore the impact of the independent factors on caregiver’s care ability. RESULTS: The mean age was 54.88±10.73 years for the patients and 44.68±15.22 years for the caregivers. Among the 271 hemodialysis patients, 59.04% were male. Multivariate regression analysis showed that female caregivers (standardized β=−0.140, P=0.002), lived with patients (standardized β=−0.381, P<0.001), high annual income of caregivers (standardized β=−0.281, P<0.001), receiving caregiving training (standardized β=−0.183, P<0.001), and patients without other chronic diseases (standardized β=0.200, P<0.001) were associated with better care abilities of caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The gender and annual income of caregivers, receiving caregiving training, cohabitation with patient, and other concurrent chronic diseases of patients were the independent influencing factors for the care ability of caregivers for hemodialysis patients. Our study emphasized the necessity of implementing comprehensive socioeconomic and educational support to improve the care ability of caregivers.