Quality of life of family caregivers of patients under hemodialysis

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the quality of life of family caregivers of patients under hemodialysis and the existence of an association with their sociodemographic and clinics characteristics. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 75 family caregivers in two hemodialysis centers. Caregivers’ quality of life was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF instrument, and its association with sociodemographic characteristics was assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test (significance level equal to 5%). Results: Most family caregivers were women (84%), spouses (41.3%), children (38.7%), housewives (38.7%) and had a family income of one to three minimum wages (85.4 %). The variable working outside the home had a positive influence on overall quality of life (p=0.014), psychological domains (p=0.009) and social relationships (p≤0.001). Being male (p=0.016), not having diseases (p=0.002) and not using medications (p=0.007) positively interfered with the physical domain. The absence of financial help from other people and/or family members had a negative influence on the social relationships (p=0.050) and environment (p=0.001) domains. Conclusion: Male family caregivers, or those who work outside the home or receive financial help from other people and/or family members had better quality of life levels. On the other hand, clinical conditions such as using a drug or having diseases have negatively influenced quality of life levels.