Descriptive study of the attitudes of family caregivers to the use of physical restraints: Preliminary results

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the attitudes of families caring for elderly dependents to the use of physical restraints and to identify the factors that could influence these attitudes. Material and methods: a descriptive, cross sectional study was carried out in a consecutive sample of the population, using a questionnaire investigating the various aspects that influence attitudes to restraints. Responses were obtained from 50 family caregivers, of which seven were discarded due to lack of knowledge about restraints (N=43). The characteristics of the sample, frequencies, the main trends and dispersion measures were analyzed. Results: most of the family caregivers considered the use of restrains to be appropriate and 90.7% were willing to use them with a relative; 41.9% believed that their use was unavoidable and were unaware of alternatives, while 23.3% were unaware that physical restraints can cause physical and psychological problems. None of the family caregivers believed that this method of restraint was a form of abuse. Conclusions: relatives had a positive attitude to physical restraints and considered their use appropriate. This finding could be related to their limited knowledge of alternatives and of the complications that can be caused by restraints. Training programmes on alternatives to these devices should be instigated.