The profile of main caregivers of terminally ill patients, and an analysis of the risk of suffering from complicated grief

Background: caregivers have an important role in palliative care; therefore, it is essential to pursue a shared palliative care provision in which informal carers should be involved. One of the risks of caregivers is complicated grief after the death of a relative. Objective: to understand the main caregiver profile in Extremadura region (Spain), and to establish whether the risk of complicated grief depends on certain parameters. Method: data were collected from the medical files of 155 patients. The descriptive study of the standard profile was made using means. For the predictive factors of developing complicated grief an analytical approach was made using the χ2 test. Variables used included: complicated grief risk, sex, age, relationship with patient, sharing the home with the patient, education, and compliance with instructions. Results: the average profile of main caregivers corresponds to women (85.42%), daughters (43.75%), living in the same home with the patient (73.61%), with primary education (63.2%), an intermediate capacity to follow instructions (43.75%), and an average age of 54 years. The dependency of parameters studied and the risk of complicated grief, calculated with χ2 test, and their statistical significances were: χ2 = 4.057 (p = 0.398) for relationship; χ2 = 1.065 (p = 0.302) for living in the same home, and χ2 = 0.600 (p = 0.897) for education. Conclusions: the average profile of main caregivers agrees with previous studies. Using a confidence level of 99% none of the variables was related to the risk of suffering complicated grief. Copyright © 2007 Arán Ediciones, s.l.