Relationship between burden and quality of life in caregivers of maintenance hemodialysis patients

Abstract

Objective To explore the factors influencing the family burden of patients taking maintenance hemodialysis and the reationship between the burden and quality of life in caregivers. Methods 204 patients taking maintenance hemodialysis and their primary caregivers were investigated with general information questionnaire, family burden scale of disease(FBS) and Mos 36-item Short Form Health Survey(SF-36). Results The caregivers’ age, caregiving time, daily care time, monthly family income, hemodialysis time, and the patients’ self-care status influenced the caregivers’ burden. A regression equation was built, and the variance analysis results showed that F=12.137 and P=0.000, and the fitting degree of linear regression equation was high; the R=0.744 and regulation R2=0.539, indicating that the dependent variables could explain the independent variables well (53.9%). The caregivers' burden quality of life negatively correlated with their burde (P<0.01). Conclusions The factors influencing the caregivers’ burden of patients taking maintenance hemodialysis include their age, caregiving time, daily care time, monthly family income, hemodialysis time, and the patients’ self care ability. The caregivers’ quality of life negatively correlates with their burden. Key words: Maintenance hemodialysis; Primary caregivers; Caregiver burden; Quality of life