A Study to Measure Caregiver Stress in Stroke Patients using Caregiver Strain Index

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke survivors have moderate to severe disability that limits their employment status and social mobility. Family members are usually not prepared to deal with the consequences of a stroke. The care of stroke patients usually leads to stress and burden among the caregivers. Aim: To assess the strain among the caregivers of stroke patients with the Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) and find the correlation between their age and duration of stroke with that of the caregiver strain. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at various hospitals in the South Gujarat region. After explaining the purpose and taking the informed consent, 50 participants were included in the study. The interviewer filled a pre-structured proforma for patients and their caregivers, as well as a CSI. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 15. Results: The mean age of participants and caregivers were 60.06 ± 15.43 years and 49 ± 15.07 years, respectively. Male stroke survivors were 60% among the sample of 50. Caregiver’s strain was found to be high in 84% (n=42) and low in 16%(n=8) of the caregivers of stroke patients. A positive correlation was present between the patient’s age and CSI score (r=0.132) and a negative correlation between the duration of stroke and CSI score (r=-0.069) with spearman correlation. Conclusion: Among the caregivers of stroke patients, the strain was found to be high. Also, with the increasing age of stroke patients, the level of stress on caregivers increases. As the duration of stroke increases, the caregiver strain reduces. Key words: Caregiver stress, Mental health, Emotional stress, Stroke survivors, Caregiver Strain Index.