Background:  The elderly eventually need caregiving, and the role for this has been more often than not fulfilled by family members. This can be attributed to numerous factors, from financial constraints to a lack of trust in others, or religious/cultural reasons. The purpose of this study is to review all current literature to find how cultural differences can impact caregiving with respect to the burden perceived by the caregiver.

Study design: Systematic review

Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, a search was done using specific keywords such as “family”, “caregiver”, and “burden” from the databases of MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Pedro. The data items included a measure of burden with mention of scale used, stressors or factors along with their scales used, and cultural correlates of caregiver burden.

Results: Most of the family caregivers were elder daughters around the age range of 40-60 looking after their parents. The most common scale used to measure burden was the ZBI, followed by CBI, then CSI. The stressors that aggravated the burden were health-related disabilities of the elderly, and this was often measured using scales such as ADL or IADL. Eastern societies, and even immigrants from the eastern nations, followed filial obligation and teachings such as Confucianism which stressed the importance of family care. These same individuals either experienced more burden or less burden, and the exact cause was not determined, but multiple factors were given including personal health of the caregiver, marriage status, and sense of obligation.

Conclusion: Obligation to the family is still present in much of the eastern hemisphere of the world, but it does not explain why different ethnicities that share similar beliefs and cultures experience different rates of burden. All the factors which affect burden have not been completely elucidated yet, and more research is required into determining how the different cultures are influenced by the multitude of factors related to caregiving.