Shameena Abdullah1, P.G. Saji2, Ganga Gangadhara Kaimal3, K.P. Jayakumar4
BACKGROUND
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health issue around the globe. The illness
and its treatment affect both the patients and care givers life. Care giving can have
varying effects on the caregiver’s life. It can disrupt the family routines, can
contribute to occupational and financial problems and can affect the physical and
psychological health of the carer. The purpose of this study was to assess the
caregiver burden and resilience of the caregivers of patients undergoing
maintenance haemodialysis.
METHODS
This is a cross-sectional study. The sample of the study consisted of caregivers of
180 patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing maintenance haemodialysis.
Specially designed pro-forma, Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC), Brief
Resilience Scale (BRS) are the tools used for the study.
RESULTS
The mean age of patients in bystanders with significant caregiver burden was
47.36 years and those with low burden was 48.12 years respectively. Among the
180 care givers, 8.9 % had low burden and 91.1 % had significant burden.
Resilience was low in 27.2 % of caregivers, medium in 72.2 % and high in 0.6 %
of caregivers. The mean BRS score was 3.81 + 0.473 in low burden group against
a BRS score of 3.15 + 0.543 in significant burden group. There was a significant
association between caregiver resilience and caregiver burden.
CONCLUSIONS
Chronic kidney disease, due to its long course and prolonged treatment, affects
the physical, psychological and social spheres of patient and family. This may
result in the feeling of burden among caregivers and affects the various aspects
of carer’s life. Burden was high and resilience was low among the caregivers of
patients with CKD. Attention should be given to the strategies to support the
caregivers.
