Do Caregiver Characteristics Affect Caregiver Burden Differently in Different Countries?

The relationships between caregiver burden as measured with the BSFC-s and six characteristics of caregivers caring for dementia patients were investigated for caregivers from England (n=36), Finland (n=42), and Greece (n=46) using survey data. In all three countries, caregiver burden increases with physical problems of the caregiver, emotional problems of the care giver, and weekly hours of care. Hence, in all three countries, special support for informal care is required when these characteristics are at high levels. When the caregiver is a spouse or long term partner of the person with dementia, lives in the same house as this person, or spends fewer than 20 hours per week for other duties than care, this is associated with less caregiver burden in England, but with more caregiver burden in Greece. Accordingly special support is required for Greek caregivers with these characteristics but the opposite is true for English caregivers.