The Correlation Between Caregivers Burden and Quality of Life Among Family Caregivers of Stroke Survivors: The Mediating Role of Resilience

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the mediation effects of resilience in the correlation between burden and Quality of Life (QoL) among Family Caregivers (FCs) of stroke survivors. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using outpatient services. The study sample included 134 FCs from stroke survivors. Demographic and clinical information were obtained using medical records and questionnaires. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure FCs' resilience. Caregiver Burden (CB) scale was used to measure FCs burden. The WHOQOL-BREF was used to measure the QoL of the FCs. Path analysis was used to determine the mediating effect of resilience on CB and QoL. To address the influence of resilience, path coefficients were divided into direct and indirect effects. Results: The results of the path analysis between the CD-RISC and CB scale were significant at 0.01. The same was true for the path between the CD-RISC and WHOQOL-BREF (p< 0.01). The path coefficients were divided into direct and indirect effects to address the influence of resilience on CB and QoL. The findings showed that resilience negatively correlated with the FCs burden (β = −0.279; 95% CI, − 0.383-0.175) and explained a 17.2% variance in the burden (R 2 = 0.172, p < 0.001). QoL also negatively predicted the CB (β = −0.279; 95% CI, 0.025-0.279) and positively predicted resilience (β = 0.152; 95% CI, −0.365-0.193). The CB and resilience accounted for 34.7% of the variance in QoL (R 2 = 0.347, p < 0.001). The indirect effect of CB on QoL mediated by resilience was −0.042 and the direct effect of burden on QoL was −0.321. Conclusion: Resilience negatively mediated the correlation between CB and QoL of FCs of stroke survivors. Addressing resilience interventions in palliative care could alleviate this burden and improve the QoL of stroke survivors.