Perceived stress and social support in informal caregivers of the elderly

Abstract

Objective: Prediction of perceived stress in relation to perceived social support in IC of PAM. Methods: Cross-sectional correlational predictive study conducted in second and third level hospitals in Saltillo, Coahuila (Mexico). A total of 150 IC participated in the period December 2021-March 2022 with non-probabilistic intentional sampling, applying the ins-truments to obtain information that was analyzed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistical analysis. Results: The age of the IC is M=51.7 years; 74.7 % are women; mean years of schooling is 10.93; they are employed (50.6 %); married/free union (66.7 %); daughter of the PAM (46 %); they have a mean of 32.13 months of care, M=13 hours a day and M=4 days a week; 80.7 % have help for care. The PAM have an average age of 72 years old, 64.7 % are women and 66.7 % have a chronic disease. The IC have a medium level of perceived social support (43.3 %) and a medium level of stress (87.3 %). The correlation shows that the lower the social support the higher the stress (r=-0.485, p<0.001). The level of perceived social support predicted the level of perceived stress by 21.4 %. Conclusion: Social support plays an important role both in patients who present stress as it has the effect of increasing emotional well-being, stability and control that impacts both their health and the performance of care as it decreases the likelihood of negative effects that the caregiver may present.