Burden of care in the caregivers of patients with anxiety disorders

• Published in: Indian journal of social psychiatry : official publication of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 22 - 28
• Main Authors: Agarwal, Manu, Kushwaha, Arti, Nischal, Anil, Kar, Sujita, Gupta, Bandna, Tripathi, Adarsh, Agarwal, Anju
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mumbai Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2017; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety disorder; burden of care; Care and treatment; Caregivers; key relatives/caregivers; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Psychological aspects; burden of care; key relatives/caregivers; Anxiety disorder
• ISSN: 0971-9962; 2454-8316
• DOI: 10.4103/0971-9962.200092

Introduction: Anxiety disorders are one of the frequently encountered psychiatric disorders in psychiatric clinics which have significant impact on the psychosocial well-being of the patient as well as their caregivers. Study Design and Aims: This study is a non- invasive, cross sectional study of 91 patients with anxiety disorder (except obsessive compulsive disorder) aimed to assess the burden of care on their key-relatives and to study various socio demographic and clinical variables of the patient in relation to burden of care on key-relatives. Methodology: Patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders other than obsessive compulsive disorder and their key relatives satisfying the selection criteria were enrolled in the study. Assessment was done on semi-structured proforma, ICD 10 DCR, SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry), International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE), Burden assessment schedule, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Result: Total adjusted burden score in our study was 40.41 which is suggestive of mild burden. It was found that the burden of care was higher in male gender, married individuals, in joint families, among spouses, urban background, in the age group 41 to 50 years, low income group particularly on farmers and laborers. Generalized anxiety disorder was associated with more burden of care in comparison to other anxiety disorders. Conclusion: Key relatives of patients with anxiety disorder have significant burden of care in different domains along the socio-demographic strata.