BURDEN IN CARE OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA: TO WHICH EXTENT CAREGIVER SUFFERS

Abstract

Family is an important social agency that takes care of various needs of its members. Families with mentally ill persons certainly face many challenges as people with mental illness face a broad range of problems. Being a caregiver of a schizophrenic patient involves a significan t burden. Several studies have outlined the compo nents of this burden, which include disturbance of domestic routine, constraints of social and leisure activities, added fina ncial responsibilities and reduced attention to other family members, but similar studies in India are scarce. The present study ai ms to assess burden on care giver of the patients with schizophrenia and its relation to various socio - demographic variables. This is a prospective, observational, epidemiological single sitting study. In tools, DSM - IV - TR, Burden assessments schedule and so cio - demographic data sheet were used in the study. The data were analyzed by Student - t Test using Graph Pad Prism v 5.01software. This study showed that quite a high degree of burden of care exists. Significant burden (p<0.05) and (p<0.001) were noticed am ong caregivers when compared between age group, gender, residence, family income, occupation, education and relation to the patient. The present study has shown a significant amount of burden experienced by careg ivers of patients with schizophrenia. Less ed ucation and low income cause more burden beside being residence in rural areas. This analysis provide basic data required for making decisions, future research and generation of interventional strategies, all geared to promote holistic caring.