Caregiver stress in stroke survivor: data from a tertiary care hospital -a cross sectional survey

Qurat Ul Ain; Nayab Zaheer Dar; Arsalan Ahmad; Saad Munzar; Abdul Wahab Yousafzai

doi:10.1186/s40359-014-0049-9

Caregiver stress in stroke survivor: data from a tertiary care hospital -a cross sectional survey

BMC Psychol. 2014 Nov 20;2(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s40359-014-0049-9. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Qurat Ul Ain¹, Nayab Zaheer Dar¹, Arsalan Ahmad², Saad Munzar³, Abdul Wahab Yousafzai⁴

Affiliations

¹ Shifa College of Medicine, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pitras Bukhari Road, H-8/4, Islamabad, Pakistan.
² Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Shifa College of Medicine and Shifa International Hospital, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pitras Bukhari Road, H-8/4, Islamabad, Pakistan.
³ Division of Neurology, Shifa International Hospital, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pitras Bukhari Road, H-8/4, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Associate Professor, Shifa College of Medicine and Shifa International Hospital, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pitras Bukhari Road, H-8/4, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Background: A principal caregiver (CG) is directly affected by patient's health problems that lead to CG strain. Pakistan has an estimated 4.8% of the population suffering from strokes. The study objective was to evaluate the caregiver level of stress and the factors which make CGs more prone to stress and also to identify the predictive role of factors such as age, sex, educational, marital status on their burden.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey. 112 Participants were chosen on the basis of being directly involved in the care of patient and able to give consent for the study. Stroke patients had to have a more than 1 month history of stroke and treated in a tertiary care hospital. The severity of stress was rated using the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI).

Results: Out of a total of 112 stroke patients and their caregivers, 12 were exempted. Most of the CGs were between the ages 30-39 (48%) and male (70%). Out of the males, most were sons (89%). None of the female CGs was employed. The mean MCSI score was 13.8. Gender, age, marital status, and duration of care all did not have a significant effect on the total (P = 0.640, 0.848, 0.839, 0.110 respectively). Female gender (P = 0.0075) was a factor leading to increased emotional adjustments. Single CGs had increased changes in personal plans (P = 0.014), and married CGs found the behaviour of the patients less upsetting (P = 0.0425). There was no significant difference between the total (P = 0.906) or individual components between daughters and daughter-in-laws. Increased duration of care was significantly associated with decrease level of sleep disturbance (P = 0.026), physical strain (P = 0.050) and other demands on time (P = 0.044). Increase age of CG was associated with an increase feeling of being overwhelmed (P = 0.027).

Conclusion: There is a need to identify the factors responsible for major CG stress by conducting similar studies and to define structured intervention for evaluating and preventing problems of caregivers.

Keywords: Caregiver stress; Pakistan; Stroke.