Providing care for a disabled elderly may represent a risk for the health of the caregiver. The objective of the study is to assess the impact of caregiving in terms of clinical and biological markers in relation to disability and cognitive impairment.
The investigators hypothesize that an accumulation of stressful events related to care giving may induce a stress response to the caregiver. This stress response can be measured by biological markers (inflammation, transcription and immunity) and also by clinical markers (frailty, physical performance, nutrition). This stress response can be influenced by the subjective burden of the caregiver and by the severity of the disease of the care receiver (Activity of daily life capabilities, cognitive function, behavioral disturbance).
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
150
assessment of health (frailty, nutrition, physical performance, depression, burden, sense of coherence, caregiver reaction)
CHU Dinant-Godinne
Mont-Godinne, Yvoir, Belgium
RECRUITINGLevels of biomarkers across groups
biomarkers of inflammation (cortisol, high sensitive C-Reactive Protein,Interleukin-6), immunity (TRECS, telomere length) and transcriptomics/epigenetics
Time frame: at baseline
Relation between biomarkers, subjective burden and the care receiver situation
biomarkers of inflammation (cortisol, high sensitive C-Reactive Protein,Interleukin-6), immunity (TRECS, telomere length) and transcriptomics/epigenetics and their relations with the Zarit burden, the caregiver reaction assessment, the depression scale and the sense of coherence scale and with the situation of the care receiver ( Katz index, cognitive impairment, behavioral disturbance)
Time frame: at baseline
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