[Relationship between caregiver's burden and self-care agency of cardiac surgical patients in Cúcuta-ColombiaRelacao entre sobrecarga do cuidador e agencia de autocuidado de pacientes de cirurgia cardíaca em Cúcuta - Colombia].

Introduction: During cardiac surgery postoperative care, physical, psychological, and social problems arise, affecting the patient's self-care agency, which brings with it the need for a caregiver during recovery. Objective: To determine the relationship between primary caregivers' burden level and the self-care agency of cardiac surgical patients. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, analytical, and correlational design was used. Patients (n=86) and caregivers (n=86) attending a cardiac surgery program from a high complexity medical center in Cúcuta, Colombia, participated and were selected using non-probability quota sampling. Self-care Agency Scale (SAS) and Zarit Burden Interview were used in the study. Results: Among the caregivers with severe burden, 83.33% cared for patients with low self-care agency. In the mild-burden caregivers' group, 63% of the patients had middle self care agency. Most patients (71.01%) of caregivers with no burden had middle self-care agency, but 20.29% exhibited high self-care agency. Discussion: the capacity for self-care agency reduces the level of caregiver burden, when the patient manages to adapt to the activities that contribute to care, the level of dependency decreases. Conclusion: The research demonstrated the relationship between these two variables. Patients and caregivers must be addressed to achieve self-care empowerment.