Quality of life of elderly cardiac patients with multimorbidity and burnout among their caregivers

Abstract Background Changes in cardiovascular anatomy, physiology, and biology associated with aging increase vulnerability to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and more people are living into old age with chronic CVD. As a result, a significant number of elderly people have CVD, whereas CVD is more likely to emerge as part of a cluster of chronic conditions in younger patients that have an impact on their QOL (quality of life). Burnout syndrome (BO) is an increasingly serious problem among caregivers. Results A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the quality of life of elderly cardiac patients with multimorbidity and BO syndrome among their caregivers on 265 patients and their caregivers; data was collected using sociodemographic, World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaires. We found that 46.8% of elderly cardiac patients with multimorbidity showed poor overall QOL and health, and 16.6% of caregivers showed a high degree of total burnout score. According to age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, the 10-year survival of our patients was 21%, 2%, and 0% in 56.2%, 26.4% and 17.4% of patients respectively. Conclusion Our study concluded that physical, psychological, and environmental QOL domains are poor among elderly cardiac patients with multimorbidity, and more than half of their care caregivers showed a low degree of personal accomplishment. Therefore, it is critical to carry out additional clinical trials aimed at developing novel rehabilitation programs and therapy avenues that will improve the QOL for elderly cardiac patients and their caregivers.