Investigation of the levels of low back pain, depression, and burnout of the personnel providing formal care for children with disability and elderly individuals

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the low-back pain, depression, and burnout levels among formal caregivers of elderly individuals and children with disability. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study included 29 caregivers of children with disabilities (Group 1) and 26 caregivers of elderly individuals (Group 2). The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were questioned. The part of low back pain in the Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to estimate of low back pain. Beck Depression Inventory and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to evaluate the levels of depression and burnout, respectively. In analysis, percentage values, mean, standard deviation, frequency, and t-test for comparative statistics and Chi-square and Fisher Exact test for categorical variables were used. Results: There was a significant difference between the two groups only for the frequency of pain (p=0.039). There was a significant difference in depression levels between the groups (p=0.001) and no difference in the burnout level of the among groups (emotional exhaustion p=0.21; depersonalization p=0.95; and personal achievement p=0.066). Conclusion: It was observed that the disabled and elderly care personnel included in this study similarly experienced moderate burnout, and they also had similar complaints in terms of low back pain, except for the frequency of pain. It was found that the depression levels of the disabled child caregivers were higher than the elderly caregivers. As a result, it has been seen that care work can cause both physical and psychosocial problems in both groups.