Burden and Resilience among Care Givers of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease - A Cross-Sectional Study at Government Medical College, Kottayam

Abstract

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. KEYWORDS Care Giver Burden, Resilience, Chronic Kidney Disease