BACKGROUND Family caregivers of elderly patients with spinal tumours experience considerable pain and burden during the care process. This study aims to investigate the factors associated with caregiver burden in family caregivers of elderly patients with spinal tumours. METHODS A total of 220 elderly patients with spinal tumours (age ≥ 65 years) hospitalized at the spine centre of our hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 and their family caregivers were recruited for this cross-sectional study. All participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire. Caregiver burden, social support and self-efficacy were assessed by the Chinese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), respectively. The factors related to caregiver burden were analysed by multivariate analysis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS The 216 elderly patients with spinal tumours were 71.59 ± 8.49 years old, and their caregivers were 70.46 ± 9.13 years old. A total of 170 patients were cared for by their spouses, who accounted for 78.7% of all caregivers. The ZBI score for the family caregivers was 35.5 ± 7.5, and most caregivers (84.5%) reported a moderate or heavy burden. The factors related to caregiver burden included patient paralysis, the primary cancer site, chemotherapy and/or radiation, cognitive dysfunction, functional status, monthly income, pain score, caregivers' SSRS score, and GSE score. CONCLUSIONS Most family caregivers of elderly patients with spinal tumours have a considerable caregiver burden. Interventions based on social support and self-efficacy can help reduce caregiver burden.

中文翻译：

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西北地区老年脊柱肿瘤患者家庭护理人员负担的相关因素。

背景技术患有脊柱肿瘤的老年患者的家庭护理人员在护理过程中经历相当大的痛苦和负担。本研究旨在探讨老年脊柱肿瘤患者家庭护理人员中与护理人员负担相关的因素。方法自2015年1月至2017年12月，在本院脊柱中心住院的220例年龄≥65岁的脊柱肿瘤老年患者及其家属被招募参加了本横断面研究。所有参与者均填写了社会人口统计学调查表。照料者负担，社会支持和自我效能感分别通过中文版的Zarit Burden访谈（ZBI），社会支持评级量表（SSRS）和一般自我效能感量表（GSE）进行了评估。通过多因素分析来分析与照顾者负担有关的因素。P <0.05被认为具有统计学意义。结果216例老年脊柱肿瘤患者年龄为71.59±8.49岁，护理人员为70.46±9.13岁。共有170名患者由其配偶照顾，占所有照顾者的78.7％。家庭看护人的ZBI评分为35.5±7.5，大多数看护人（84.5％）报告为中度或重度负担。与护理人员负担相关的因素包括患者瘫痪，原发癌部位，化疗和/或放疗，认知功能障碍，功能状态，月收入，疼痛评分，护理人员的SSRS评分和GSE评分。结论大多数老年脊柱肿瘤患者的家庭照料者有相当大的照料者负担。