Burden of Care among Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients

The presence of a person with mental illness in a family is often associated with social, emotional, behavioral and financial problems to the family. Therefore, the study was conducted with the aim of finding out the burden of care among the caregivers of mentally ill patients. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with quantitative approach. A total of 97 family members was selected consecutively from the psychiatric outpatient department (OPD) and wards of Mental hospital. Results: The study revealed that 40.2 % of the caregivers had mild burden, 27.8% had moderate burden, 25.8% experienced little or no burden and 6.2% experienced severe burden. The mean score percentage of burden was highest in the area of relationship (44.46%) followed by loss of control over one’s life (40.08%) and emotional well-being (39.29%). There was significant statistical association between burden and caregiver’s age (p=0.017), educational status (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.378), occupation (p=0.307), relationship with patient (p=0.035) and duration of care-giving (p=0.026). There was statistical association between burden and patient’s gender (p= 0.010), age (p=0.40), marital status (p=0.50), duration of illness (p=0.01) and type of illness (p=0.09). Conclusion: It is concluded that greatest number of caregivers had experienced mild burden and nearly one-third experienced moderate burden. Highest amount of burden is observed in the area of relationship followed by loss of control over one’s life, emotional well-being, finances and burden in social and family life. Thus, there is a need to develop the strategies and support system to address and reduce their burden.