Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to identify patient’s and primary caregiver’s factors that may affect family burden of primary caregivers targeting patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers and furthermore to investigate the influence of primary caregiver’s quality of life.
Methods:72 schizophrenia patients and their 72 primary caregivers were investigated and sociodemographic data were collected. Additionally, for patients, as clinical scales, drug attitude, stigma, insight into disease were assessed, and for primary caregivers, family burden, quality of life were assessed.
Result:The subjective drug attitude of patients with schizophrenia appeared to be 3.56 ± 5.21 points, which was generally positive.
In multiple regression analysis on quality of life, primary caregiver’s monthly income, primary caregiver’s education level, patient’s gender, patient’s treatment duration, the degree of disorganized speech among patient’s clinical symptoms, patient’s subjective negative drug attitude, and the degree of stigma resistance significantly explained the total mean QOL score.
In the dimensions of quality of life, the physical health dimension was correlated with primary caregiver’s education level, primary caregiver’s gender, patient’s gender, patient’s treatment duration, patient’s subjective negative drug attitude, and the degree of patient stigma resistance. The psychological dimension was correlated only with primary caregiver’s monthly income. Lastly, the environmental dimension was correlated with primary caregiver’s education level, patient’s treatment duration, and the degree of patient’s insight into disease on positive symptoms.
Conclusion:In various factors determining caregiver’s level of quality of life, a clinical symptom such as disorganized speech and clinically correctable factors such as negative drug attitude, stigma resistance to their mental illness and insight into disease on positive symptoms were included. Therefore, provision of education regarding drug and disease will be helpful to reduce family burden and improve the quality of life of primary caregivers.