European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF BURDEN AMONG THE CARE GIVERS OF PATIENTS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN A SELECTED HOSPITAL AT MANGALURU

Ms. Aiswarya George, Ms. Aiswarya MS, Ms. Akangshaw Anne Paiva*, Ms. Akhitha P., Ms. Akshaya Shaji, Ms. Amal Binoy and Mrs. Viji Prasad C.

ABSTRACT

Aim: Assess the level of burden among the care givers of patients with mental illness in a selected hospital at Mangaluru. Background: The family constitutes an important support system in the care of patient with mental illness in the community. Recently, there have been increasing numbers of caregivers who provide care to their mentally ill family members. Having a family member with a mental illness can be very stressful. Whether the ill person is a son, daughter, husband, wife, brother or sister, the care giver will be affected by their illness too. A person with a psychiatric disorder often needs much love, help and support. At the same time, the problems, fears and behavior of mentally ill may strain the care giver patience and ability to cope. Methods: A descriptive survey approach was adopted to assess the level of burden among 100 care givers of patients with mental illness in a selected hospital at Mangaluru. Convenient sampling technique was used to select the sample for the study. Pilot study was conducted to find out the feasibility of the study. The tools used were demographic porforma, Zarit-Burden Interview which is a standardized scale. Data collected from the subjects were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: In the present study, 66% of the subjects reported moderate to severe level of burden, whereas 21% of the subjects reported with severe level of burden. 12% of them had mild to moderate burden and only 1% participants had little or no burden at all. There is a significant association found between the level of burden among care givers of patient with mental illness and selected demographic variables.. i.e., age(χ2=10.960, P =.021), gender(χ2 = 51.440, P=0.001), religion(χ2 =36.320, P= 0.001) marital status χ2 = 45.320, P =.001) educational status (χ2 =37.360, P = 0.001) occupational status((χ2=29.700, P = 0.001) monthly income(χ2 =20.720, P = 0.001),type of family (χ2 =35.280, P = 0.001),duration of care giving(χ2 =10.640, P = 0.014) and type of relationship with patient(χ2 =19.680, P = 0.001). Hence, the research hypothesis is accepted. Conclusion: The overall findings of the study revealed that selected demographic proforma have significant association with level of burden among care givers of patients with mental illness. Implications for nursing: Implications of this study assessing the level of burden among the caregivers of patients with mental illness have a great influence regarding the provision of care and the nurse act as a mediator for the care associated with the outcome, nursing intervention should be focused on the need of the caregivers and an emphasis placed on community care for mentally ill patients with family intervention, Which help relatives or guardians and the patients facilitate to handle the situation effectively.

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