Burden on relatives of people with psychic disorder: levels and associated factors

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown that overburden with care of psychotic patients is associated with a significant reduction of quality of life and causes harm to the caregiver's health. Objective: In order to compare factors associated with levels of burden of caregivers with the psychopathology of the patient, we conducted a cross-sectional study with 435 primary caregivers of patients of Centers for Psychosocial Care (CAPS) from Pelotas, RS. Methods: Te patients were identified through medical records and their caregivers were interviewed in their homes. To evaluate the burden we used Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Results: Caregivers of dependent users of alcohol and drugs had the highest average of burden, 52.2 points (sd = 20.4), followed by the caregivers of patients with suicide risk, 48.5 points (sd = 0.7). In adjusted analysis, women had 8.2 (95% CI: 4.6, 11.8) points higher on average than men in ZBI scale. Caregivers with less education had 1.6 (95% CI: -3.1, -1.0) points lower on average of burden compared to those with higher educational level. Caregivers with some health problem had 6.7 (95% CI: 3.3, 10.0) points higher in the middle of the ZBI when compared to those without disease. Discussion: Several factors overload clearly indicate the need to develop interventions such as psychoeducation which may give some support to the family responsible for care.