The Relationship between the Caregiver Burden and the Quality of Life of the Caregivers of the Patients Survived from Stroke in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Specialized Clinics Download PDF

Background and objective: stroke is one of the most common chronic diseases, the third cause of death in developed countries, and the main reason for disability in adults. The caregivers of the patients survived from stroke would face physical and mental problems, insufficient rest, changes in social communication, employment status, and economic problems. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the caregiver burden and the caregivers’ quality of life. Method: this is a descriptive correlational study conducted on 120 caregivers of the patients survived from stroke who visited Tabriz University of Medical Sciences clinics through the instruments included Caregiver Strain Index (CSI), the Iranian version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire and the demographic information questionnaire in 5 months. The validity of the questionnaires was determined by content validity and the reliability of which was determined by Cronbach's alpha. The relationship between the caregiver burden and the quality of life was investigated through Pearson correlation test in SPSS 24. Findings: in this study, most of the caregivers were the children of the patients with an age average of (41.9±12.38). The minimum score of the quality of life mean belonged to environmental health (57±16.74) and the maximum score of which belonged to physical health (79.74±16.48). The minimum caregiver burden was 5 and the maximum of which was 13. There was a significant relationship between the caregiver burden and quality of life regarding the aspects of physical health (r=-0.405 and p=0.01), mental health (r=-0.227 and p=0.007), and environmental health (r=-0.209 and p=0.012). However, the relationship was not significant regarding the aspect of the social relationship (r=-0.148 and p=0.187). Conclusion: the stroke patient caregivers’ quality of life significantly decreases when their caregiving burden increases. Therefore, the health system mental, physical, social, and economic interventions and supports for the caregivers’ empowerment can decrease care burden and increase the quality of life.