Wijesinghe Champa J, Cunningham Natasha, Fonseka Pushpa, Hewage Chandanie G, Østbye Truls
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University, USA.
Asia Pac J Public Health. 2015 Jan;27(1):85-95. doi: 10.1177/1010539514548756. Epub 2014 Sep 9.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 375 caregivers of children with cerebral palsy attending a tertiary care setting in Sri Lanka, to identify factors associated with caregiver burden. Caregiver burden was defined as "caregiver's response to various stressors associated with caregiving" and was measured using Caregiver Difficulties Scale (CDS), developed specifically for this purpose. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess associations between sociodemographic, stressor, and coping factors and caregiver burden; and to examine whether coping reduces the effect of stressors on burden. Low income, rural residence, male sex, and number of functional deficits of the disabled child correlated significantly with higher caregiver burden, while spousal support correlated with lower burden. Seeking social support reduced the increased burden associated with greater functional impairments. Psychosocial interventions focused on evaluating and improving social support for caregivers may help families at high risk for caregiver distress, to minimize negative outcomes.
在斯里兰卡一家三级医疗机构中，对375名脑瘫患儿的照料者进行了一项横断面研究，以确定与照料者负担相关的因素。照料者负担被定义为“照料者对与照料相关的各种压力源的反应”，并使用专门为此目的开发的照料者困难量表（CDS）进行测量。采用多元线性回归来评估社会人口统计学、压力源和应对因素与照料者负担之间的关联；并检验应对措施是否能减轻压力源对负担的影响。低收入、农村居住、男性以及残疾儿童的功能缺陷数量与较高的照料者负担显著相关，而配偶支持与较低的负担相关。寻求社会支持可减轻因功能障碍加剧而增加的负担。专注于评估和改善对照料者社会支持的心理社会干预措施，可能有助于处于照料者困扰高风险的家庭将负面结果降至最低。
