抄録
Quantitative analysis of the relationship between the burden on care-givers while administering medicine to the elderly and the factors which affect this burden were carried out at six longterm facilities in Japan. For grading the burden of administering drugs, we used the method developed by Tsutsui, in which the burden of 128 kinds of care services are quantitatively standardized from 1 point (turning on the TV) to 100 points (contending with violence by confused elderly). According to the method, caregivers graded the burden of every resident when administering the drugs. At the same time, various factors of every resident which influenced to some extent the burden of administering the drugs, were investigated.
The results of this study led us to two important conclusions.
1) As for the distribution of the burden score, most cases received around 20 points (equivalent to the preparation of a meal). The pattern of the score distribution differed widely among institutions.
2) To analyze the relationship between the burden score and some other factors, a multiple regression model was constructed. The dependent variable of the model was the burden score and the explanatory variables comprised several kinds of functional levels of aged people, the disparities among institutes. The model indicated that the factors which strongly affect the burden score are difficulty in swallowing, mental function level, physical activity level, the number of medicines prescribed, and malfunctioning of the hands. The R-square of this model was 0.60.
