Caregiver burden and health-related quality of life among Japanese stroke caregivers

Objective: the present study had two main purposes: 1. To examine the relationship between caregiver burden and health-related quality of life in family caregivers of older stroke patients in Japan; and 2. To examine which characteristics of the caregiving situation significantly relate to increased burden. Methods: subjects (n = 100) were recruited from seven randomly selected neurological hospitals with out-patient rehabilitation clinics in western Japan and interviewed using the Zarit Burden Interview, the Modified Barthel Index, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the SF-12 Health Survey for health-related quality of life. Results: increased caregiver burden was significantly related to worsening health-related quality of life, particularly worsening mental health (Geriatric Depression Scale and SF-12 items), even after controlling for caregiver age, sex, chronic illness, average caregiving hours/day, and functional dependence of the care-recipient. Discussion: findings indicate that increased burden significantly relates to decreased health-related quality of life among stroke caregivers. In addition, the prevalence of depressive symptoms among caregivers was twice that of community dwelling older people. Roughly 52% of caregivers had Geriatric Depression Scale scores that warranted further evaluation. Despite the prevalence of depressive symptoms only one caregiver had received any psychiatric care during their caregiving tenure.