Psychological Burden amongst Caregivers of Patients on Maintenance Haemodialysis

Long-term caregiving is a difficult job, risking mental health of involved individuals. This study was planned to document magnitude of the problem at Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, with an aim to improve quality of life in caregivers and patients alike. From January to June 2019, caregivers accompanying haemodialysis patients were selected using consecutive sampling technique. Those unwilling were excluded. Psychological burden was assessed using Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) questionnaire. There were 98 caregivers, including 71 (72.45%) males and 27 (27.55%) females, aged 33.13 +/- 9.98 years. There was little/ no burden in 27 (27.55%) caregivers; 52 (53.06%) had mild to moderate, 18 (18.37%) had moderate to severe and 3 (3.06%) had severe psychological burden. Mean ZBI score was 30.00 +/- 12.57. Males had lower scores than females (28.01 +/- 11.18 vs. 35.22 +/- 14.65, respectively; p= 0.026). Gender of caregivers significantly predicted ZBI scores; while their age, job status, education, monthly income and duration of caregiving did not.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the psychological burden of caregivers of haemodialysis patients at Pak Emirates Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. Results showed that 27.55% of caregivers had little to no burden, while 53.06% had mild to moderate burden. Males had lower burden scores compared to females.