Burden and resilience in caregivers of patients on maintenance haemodialysis

Abstract

Background: Chronic renal failure is one among the chronic illness which due to persistence of the disease has various effects on the physiological, psychological and functional ability of the patient and his family. Although haemodialysis has become a highly safe medical procedure that significantly extended life of such patients, it is nevertheless a stressful and lengthy treatment process. The task of personal life care for such patients falls primarily on the family members. The caregiver is expected to aid in patient’s daily life activities resulting in increased physical and emotional burden. With the considerable level of burden involved the concept of resilience thus become crucial as they could function as protective factors. The current study aims to assess the level of caregiver burden and resilience in caregivers of haemodialysis patients.Methods: A cross sectional observational study was done in 120 caregivers of patients diagnosed as having ESRD on maintenance hemodialysis. Zarit Burden Interview was used for assessing caregiver’s burden. Brief Resilience Scale was used to assess caregiver’s resilience.Results: 35.8% of caregivers had severe caregiver burden while looking after dialysis patients while 45% of caregivers had moderate burden. Caregivers showed low resilience about 72.5% which displays poor problem solving and emotion-focused coping strategies.Conclusions: The study shows that more than 80% of caregivers suffered from moderate to severe burden and poor resilience among them would be a contributing factor. The study also shows that female caregivers were most affected. The burden was significantly higher in caregivers as the years spent on caregiving increased and more hours spent per day looking after the patients. Health-care providers need to address these concerns based on both patient- and caregiver-focused approaches, rather than only patient focused.