Caregiver burden among relatives of patients with schizophrenia in Katsina, Nigeria
Objective: Caring for patients’ with schizophrenia leads to an enormous burden on the caregivers. However, the magnitude of this problem remains largely unknown in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to determine the burden of care giving among relatives of patients with schizophreni...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
AOSIS
2009-06-01
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Series: | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/187 |
Summary: | Objective: Caring for patients’ with schizophrenia leads to an enormous burden on the caregivers. However, the magnitude of this problem remains largely unknown in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to determine the burden of care giving among relatives of patients with schizophrenia.
Materials and method: A total of 129 primary care-givers of patients with schizophrenia attending out-patient clinic of Katsina state Psychiatric Hospital were interviewed using a socio-demographic data collection sheet and Zarith Burden Interview (ZBI). Data obtained was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 13.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 45.07±8.91. Majority of the caregivers are females. High level of burden was found in 47.3% of the respondents. The level of burden experienced was significantly associated with place of residence and family size.
Conclusion: Schizophrenia is associated with high level of caregiver burden and effort should be made at alleviating this burden for better out come in both the patients and caregivers. |
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ISSN: | 1608-9685 2078-6786 |