Family Burden in Caregivers of Elderly with Cognitive Impairment residing in Rural and Tribal Population of a District in Western India – A Baseline Study

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objective was to assess cognitive impairment (CI) in adults older than 59 years, residing in rural and tribal population and to assess family burden of those who had significant CI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among adults residing in the rural population of a block in a district located in Western India in 2015. A total of 240 households from 12 villages of the block were selected by multistage and random sampling method. Mini-mental state examination and Zarit Burden Interview tools were used to assess CI and burden. Data were entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Chi-squared test. RESULTS: A total of 212 adults aged over 59 years were studied. The overall prevalence of CI was 42.92%. There was a statistically significant difference seen in CI among females as compared to males. Interview of primary care taker showed that 32 (35.16%) caregivers had little or no burden, 53 (58.24%) had mild-to-moderate burden, and 6 (6.59%) had moderate-to-severe burden, while none had a severe burden. CONCLUSIONS: Enabling caregivers to provide at home care for longer periods before hospitalization would decrease the burden of CI.