ASSESSMENT OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN FAMILY BURDEN IN PRIMARY CAREGIVERS AND DISABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating, and a chronic, relapsing mental illness associated with increased morbidity, poor quality of life and low recovery rates. In India, families are the major providers of long-term care and they represent an important supportive, social network for patients with schizophrenia. Indian families experience significant degrees of burden in the care of their relatives with schizophrenia. Illness severity and patients' disability have a direct positive relationship with perceived family burden. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study, done to assess the correlation between family burden in primary caregivers and disability in patients with schizophrenia. 60 patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers were recruited from the outpatient and inpatient units of Department of Psychiatry, Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai. IDEAS (Indian Disability Evaluation Assessment Scale) scale was used to assess the disability of patients with schizophrenia and BAS (Burden Assessment Schedule) of SCARF (Schizophrenia Research Foundation) was used to assess the family burden in their primary caregivers. Results: Among the 60 primary caregivers, (48.3%) were having caregiver burden between 50 and 70%. (56.4%) of female caregivers had burden range 50- 70%. (56.5%) of caregivers delivering care for patients with illness between 15 and 20 years experienced burden >70%. Statistical analysis revealed that the correlation between caregiver burden and disability was statistically significant. Conclusions: The severity of caregiver burden increases with increasing grades of disability and indicates that caregiver burden affects the overall outcome of schizophrenia Keywords: Schizophrenia, Caregiver burden, Disability, Outcome