Department of Adult Psychiatry, Ju Shan Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2011 Mar;57(2):195-206. doi: 10.1177/0020764009348440. Epub 2009 Oct 15.
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.
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).
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.
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.
在台湾，很少有研究关注精神疾病患者照顾者的负担，以及这种负担对照顾者生活质量的影响。本研究旨在探讨可能加重照顾者负担的风险因素，并评估照顾者负担与生活质量之间的关系。
评估了台北市精神病中心门诊服务的 90 名精神疾病患者的照顾者，使用负担问卷和世界卫生组织生活质量量表（WHOQOL-BREF）的简短问卷。
负担评分与照顾者每天与患者相处的时间数显著相关，与年龄、性别、亲属关系和教育水平无关。不同精神疾病患者的照顾者负担水平相似。较高的负担评分与较低的生活质量相关，并在 WHOQOL-BREF 的所有四个领域的多元回归中保留了独特的预测方差。
这些发现表明，照顾负担对照顾者的生活质量有重大影响。与患者相处的日常时间是台湾照顾者负担的唯一决定因素。应考虑采取措施减少日常照顾时间。
