Caregiver's burden of persons with stroke in India: A narrative review

Abstract

The caregiver (CG) of a stroke survivor (SS), usually a family member needs to cope up with the challenges of the new role. “Immediate family” who more often than not is the primary CG is included in the “support and relationships” chapter of the environmental factors of the International Classification of Functioning. An insight into the burden of care on the CG in India necessitates a review so as to address it. Publications were overviewed from the search engine “PUBMED” and “Google Scholar” for studies in Indian urban/rural/slum settings either hospital or community based having outcome measures for CG burden, quality of life (QOL), health issues, and CG satisfaction. Interventional studies on CG, hired CG, or with more than one CG were excluded. Seven cross-sectional studies from North, Western, and South India met the inclusion criteria. Sample size ranged from 54 to 201 SSs of duration 28 days to >1-year poststroke. Majority of the CG s were females. The mean score was lowest in physical health and highest in social health in all the studies for WHO-QOL. CG burden was high in all the studies. Burden perceived by female CGs was more than males. The CGs services impacts the treatment outcome hence there is a need to educate and sensitize healthcare professionals to treat CG with dignity and empathy so that caregiving is less stressful. Physiotherapists while being actively involved in rehabilitation of individuals with stroke should train the CG in appropriate home exercises and management, which is ergonomically effective to both SS and CG, cost-effective, and practically feasible so that CG strain and stress can be reduced.