Studies on informal caregiving in institutional settings are rare. The impact on their burden of 197 caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents' autonomy was investigated. The results of previous research on caregivers' burden in non-institutional contexts were used to provide an empirical starting point for the research. The results of regression analysis show that help for bathing and concurrent demands have an impact on objective burden, but caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents and the social support they receive affect subjective burden.