Burden and Quality Of Life of Primary Caregivers of Stroke Patients Attending Tema General Hospital

Abstract

Background Stroke is a sudden loss of brain function resulting from a break in the flow of blood or raptured blood vessels resulting in death of brain cells in the affected area. It is a major cause of disability and deaths globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden is higher with low deaths and increase burden. Stroke is one of the leading cause of deaths in Ghana. A large number of stroke patients are sent home after discharge and primary caregivers are faced with the burden of caring for them which affect the quality of life of primary caregivers. Interventions are needed to manage the condition in order to reduce new cases of stroke and reduce deaths among stroke patients. The objective of the study was to determine the burden of caregiving and quality of life of primary care givers of stroke patients. Method The study adopted a cost-of-illness approach using cross-sectional data from 140 primary caregivers of stroke patients. Direct costs were estimated by classifying it into direct medical and non-direct medical cost incurred by primary caregivers over a month. Indirect cost was estimated as the value of productive days lost to caregivers. Zarit burden interview was used to determine primary caregiver burden (intangible costs) while WHO EUROHIS-QoL was used to determine the quality of life of the primary caregivers. Data was entered into Epi Info 7 and Microsoft excel version 2010 for analysis. The results were presented using descriptive statistics. Results The average total cost per month for caregiving for the Stroke patients to the primary caregiver was estimated at GHS 1,875.53 (USD 430.17) of which 90.6% GHS 1,699.02 (USD 389.68) being direct average cost and 9.4% GHS 176.52 (USD 40.49) being indirect average cost. Male primary caregivers reported a higher caregiver burden than females with 91% primary caregivers reporting high burden and 9% reporting low caregiver burden. Females recorded lower quality of life than males. Out of a total of 140 primary caregivers, 37% primary caregivers recorded low quality of life, 60.7% recorded moderate quality of life and a smaller proportion of 1.4% caregivers recorded high quality of life. Conclusion The result showed that most primary caregivers were related to the stroke patients and were burdened with the care they provided to stroke patients as they incurred huge medical and non-medical cost. The study also found out that some primary caregivers had to stop their work or education due to the burden that came with caring for the stroke patient which invariably affected their quality of life. Although majority of primary caregivers were females, men reported being burdened than the females, and more females reported to have lower quality of life than the male primary caregivers. The cost associated with stroke was high which must be addressed to enable caregivers continue caring for stroke patients.