Socio-demographic Determinants

Informal caregivers play an important role in the well-being of dependent members in a household. Yet, literature on female caregiver burden in low-income and middle-income countries is scanty. This study examines the socio-demographic and socio-economic determinants of female caregiver burden in Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods

The cross-sectional study involved 100 black/African and 100 coloured female caregivers selected through a systematic random sampling procedure in two different cultural communities. The study instrument assessed caregiver burden with both objective and subjective measures through the use of a fully structured questionnaire. Chi-square tests and correlation analysis were used to examine the association between background characteristics and female caregiver burden.

Results

The results showed that a large proportion of caregivers (49.5%) were in the age group of 50–59 years. The majority of the respondents were in care tasks as a full time job, providing more than 40 h of care per week. Statistical significant associations were found between the socio-demographic characteristics of female caregivers (such as age, education, population group and income status) and the physical health status of the care recipients. Further, physical health of care recipients and social grants showed strong, statistically significant positive correlations with caregiver burden.

Conclusions

The study recommends the government to recognise the importance of physical health of the care recipients and increase the amounts of social grants to the caregivers since this could improve the standard of living of both the care recipients and caregivers.