Arthritis as one of the chronic illnesses requiring management over a long period of time which puts great burden on patients, their family and society. For patients with chronic illnesses, providing a social support is important and the most important source is their spouses. Therefore we assessed the burden of older husbands of female arthritic patients and also determined the factors affecting burden. The sample used in this study was 68female arthritic patients and their spouses who were over sixty years old. The tool for assessing spouses' burden was the revised version of subjective and objective parameters developed by Montgomery et al (1985). The results were as follows : 1. General characteristics of patients and older spouses : mean age of the patients (60.8 years) : educational level (elementary school 42.6%, high school 25%) ; mean marital age (39.2years) , average duration since diagnosis (11.2years) ; standard drug therapy was chosen. Average occurrence of discomfort by patients was (3.39 with a rangel-5) ; severity of pain (3.84) ; and dependency (3.13) , mean age of husbands (66.2years) ; Educational level (mostly college and high school completion) ; average income per month (l,092,500won) ; number of husbands having discomfort or disease (38(55.9%)) ; husband's rating of their spouses disease severity (3.97). 2. Husbands' burden : The average burden in subjective items (23.4, range 6-36) and objective items (36.0, range 10-60) ; average total burden was (59.9, range 16-96). 3. Burden and general characteristics: Husband's total burden correlated with patient's age((F=3.668, p=0.010); number of family members((F=5.344, p=0.007). Husband's objective burden correlated with the educational level of patients(F=3.811, p=0.008) and family income(F=3.546, p=0.016). 4. Linear correlation analysis on burden: The husbands' total burden is explained in 19.4% by number of family members. The husbands' objective burden is explained in 22.0% by patients' educational level and the number of family members. In conclusion, husbands' level of burden is affected by various factors and therefore nursing strategies for, relief of the burden of older husbands should be individualized taking these factors into consideration.