Factors associated with knowledge among Malaysian family caregivers in caring for older people

Makhtar, Aniawanis and Ab Ghani, Nor Nadiya (2025) Factors associated with knowledge among Malaysian family caregivers in caring for older people. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 21 (Supp 6). pp. 186-191. ISSN 1675-8544 E-ISSN 2636-9346

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Abstract

Introduction: This study addressed the challenges of elderly care in Malaysia by examining the factors influencing family caregivers’ knowledge. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional research was carried out on 231 family caregivers of elderly individuals who were chosen from two Kelantan districts in Malaysia. Data were collected using a questionnaire that included sociodemographics and knowledge. The adoption of Pearson’s correlations, independent t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance was undertaken to investigate the variables linked to knowledge. Results: The overall score indicated that the family caregivers had good knowledge, with a mean score of 9.66 ± 2.53. Factors that were significantly associated with knowledge were age (p < 0.01), underlying medical conditions (p = 0.002), support from others (p = 0.000), marital status (p = 0.005), number of children (p = 0.021), employment (p = 0.000), relationship with the elderly (p = 0.001), and years of caregiving (p = 0.000). Conclusions: When providing knowledge to help family caregivers adapt to their caregiving role, factors such as increasing age, presence of medical illness, support from others, being separated or divorced, having more children, being retired, being a son or daughter-in-law, and having 1–5 years of caregiving experience should be considered. This discovery equips nurses and other healthcare professionals with essential knowledge to increase nursing interventions and enhance the understanding of those who provide care for elderly individuals. This, in turn, can have a good influence on caregiving.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Family caregivers, Older people, Knowledge, Demographic variables, Malaysia
Subjects:	R Medicine > RT Nursing > RT86.3 Nurse and patient
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Nursing Kulliyyah of Nursing > Department of Special Care Nursing
Depositing User:	Aniawanis Makhtar
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2025 15:32
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2025 15:32
Queue Number:	2025-11-Q301
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/124831

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