SA105. Characteristics of Patients With Recent-Onset Schizophrenia and Their Caregivers: Is There a Correlation With Caregiver Burden?

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic, serious mental illness (SMI) that affects approximately 1.1% of the population aged ≥18 years. There are approximately 8.4 million caregivers of US adults with SMI. Caregivers can provide vital support, but the burden and distress caused by recurrent SMI symptomatology are barriers to effective caregiving. The aim of this analysis is to describe the demographic and baseline characteristics of care-givers and patients with recent-onset schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorders enrolled in the Family Intervention in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia Treatment (FIRST) study (NCT02600741) and evaluate the correlation between caregiver burden and severity of patient illness. Methods: FIRST is a 12-month, ongoing, prospective, randomized study to evaluate the effect of a caregiver-directed psychosocial intervention on outcomes in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorders receiving paliperidone palmitate (PP) or oral antipsychotic treatment (OAT). The caregivers were randomized into 2 study groups (usual caregiver support or study-provided caregiver-directed psychosocial intervention) within strata defned by the type of antipsychotic medication (PP or OAT) that patients were prescribed by their treating phy-sicians. The patients were assessed for symptom severity (CGI-S) and illness management and recovery. The caregivers were assessed for caregiver burden (IEQ), general health (SF-12), and health-care resource utilization. The study is ongoing and the current analysis is based on interim data from 52 patient-caregiver pairs. Results: Patients were predominantly male (84.6%), were white (57.6%), black (36.5%), and had a mean age of 25.3 years; 9.6% were Hispanic. Most (88.5%) patients lived at home with family or friends. The average CGI-S score for patients receiving PP was 4.94 and for patients receiving OAT was 3.89. Caregivers were predominantly female (76.9%), were mostly parents (86.5%), and had a mean age of 52.4 years. There was a moderate yet signifcant correlation between the IEQ total score and patients' CGI-S score at baseline (r =.36, P =.011). The correlation between the total IEQ score and the patient's or caregiver's age, gender, and race was not signifcant. Conclusion: The interim analysis of the baseline data showed that greater severity of patient illness is correlated with higher caregiver burden.