FACTORS INFLUENCING BURDEN AMONG STROKE FAMILY CAREGIVERS

Abstract

Family caregivers play important roles in helping stroke survivors in all aspects of their lives. New caregivers report difficulty adjusting to new roles, duties, and responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to test a causal model of burden among family caregivers who were taking care of stroke survivors during the first six months after stroke. A convenience sample was used to recruit 200 family caregivers of stroke survivors in Saraburi and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya hospitals. Research instruments were a demographic survey of stroke caregivers and patients, the Zarit Burden Interview, the Health Perception Scale for Thai adults, the Barthel Index, the General Perceived Self-efficacy Scale, the revised Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF. AMOS software was used to test the Structural Equation Model [SEM].

The findings showed that caregivers reported mild burden (M = 29.89, SD = 12.50). The model of caregiver burden showed that functional status of patient, hours of caregiving, duration of caregiving, and self-efficacy had direct effects on caregiver burden. Moreover, functional status of patient had an indirect effect on caregiver burden through hours of care and self-efficacy. Duration of caregiving had an indirect effect on caregiver burden through self-efficacy. The total variance explained was 39% (R2 = .39). Additionally, a model of caregivers’ Quality of Life [QOL] revealed that caregiver burden and self-efficacy had direct effects on caregivers’ QOL. Self-efficacy had an indirect effect on caregivers’ QOL through caregiver burden. The model explained 37% (R2 = .37) of the variance in caregivers’ QOL.

The findings suggest that nurses can reduce stroke family caregiver burden by assessing stroke survivors’ functional status prior to discharge and by ongoing assessment and enhancement of caregiver self-efficacy.

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