The Burden Among Caregivers of Patients with Chronic Psychoses.

Abstract

Introduction Psychoses are severe mental disorders, which place a considerable burden on the caregivers. Families experience a lot of physical, emotional and financial distress due to a patient’s abnormal behavior, and social and occupational dysfunction. In countries like Tunisia, where rehabilitation services are almost nonexistent, the role of the family becomes more important. Objective Assess caregiver burden among relatives of patients with chronic psychoses. Methodology This is a descriptive cross-sectional study regarding 40 caregivers accompanying patients with chronic psychoses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and non- schizophrenic psychosis). The burden was assessed by the European version of the scale of the burden IEQ (Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire). Results The average age of our population was 48 years. Caregivers were as follows: siblings(35%), parents (27.5 %) and spouses(27.5 %). Almost all of the caregivers (80%) lived in the same household as the patient. Pathologies diagnosed in patients were schizophrenia (65%) and bipolar disorder (20%). Most caregivers have an important sense of burden (IEQ> 15) with a percentage of 77.5%. This burden was mainly due to the “tension” with a mean score of 5.6 and the 'supervision'with an average of 3.7. A significant burden was found among caregivers without occupation (p = 0.028). Patients Caregivers treated with atypical antipsychotic express less important burden (p = 0.032). Conclusion Caregivers of patients with chronic psychoses experience moderate to severe burden. Caring for the psychotic patient need to change from a patient focused approach to a combined patient and caregiver approach.