Factors associated with care burden and quality of life among caregivers of the mentally ill in Chinese society.

OBJECTIVES

Few studies in Taiwan have looked into the burden of caregivers for the mentally ill and the influence of the burden on the quality of life among caregivers. The aim of this study is to explore the risk factors that may aggravate care burden and to assess the relationship between the caregivers' burden and their quality of life.

METHOD

Ninety caregivers of patients with mental illness, who were attending outpatient clinic services in Taipei City Psychiatric Centre, were assessed using a burden questionnaire and the brief questionnaire of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF).

RESULTS

Burden scores were significantly correlated with the number of care hours the caregivers spent daily with the patient, irrespective of their age, gender, kinship and educational level. Caregivers of patients with different psychiatric illnesses had similar levels of burden. Higher burden scores were correlated with a lower quality of life and retained unique predictive variance in multiple regressions in all four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that care burden has a significant impact on caregivers' quality of life. Daily care hours with the patient are the unique determinant of caregivers' burden in Taiwan. Measures to reduce daily care hours should be considered.