A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the degree
of Master of Medicine in Psychiatry
Johannesburg, 2017 / Introduction: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness, which is often characterized
by a relapsing course with resultant effects on most areas of functioning due to the
disability associated with it. The presence of any of the symptoms of schizophrenia
can be extremely distressing for the families or caregivers who care for the patient.
The term caregiver burden arose following the deinstitutionalization of mental health
patients that was associated with integration of patients with severe mental illnesses
into the community. Limited data of caregiver burden and its relationship with quality
of life (QOL) is available in South Africa. The aim of the present study is to describe
the nature of caregiver burden and to describe the relationship between caregiver
burden and QOL.
Methods: The study is descriptive and cross-sectional in nature and was conducted at
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital from February 2014 to October 2014.
Data was collected from caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in the form of
questionnaires. Caregiver burden was assessed by the use of a Caregiver Strain Index
questionnaire with a score greater than 7 suggesting a high caregiver burden. Quality
of life was assessed with the World Health Organization Quality of Life brief
questionnaire; it is scored on six domains each of which contributes to the caregiver’s
overall impression of their quality of life.
Results: Of the 127 participants identified for the study, eight six participated.
Significant factors associated with higher caregiver burden were as follows: increased
number of admissions per year, caring for adults less within the ages of 46-55 years,
caring for patients with psychosocial stressors and living in a household with 3 to 4
people.
Conclusion: The relationship between caregiver burden and caregiver QOL suggested
that as caregiver burden increases, QOL decreases. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23139 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Mtshali, Thokozani |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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