Family burden among caregivers of people with mental disorders: an analysis of health services

Abstract The objective of this study was to analyze the objective and subjective levels of burden felt by family caregivers of patients who were treated at three institutions: a General Psychosocial Care Center (known as ‘CAPS Geral’), a CAPS center for Alcohol and Drugs (‘CAPS AD’) and the Psychiatric Admissions Unit of a General Hospital (‘UIPHG’) in the municipality of Sobral, Ceara State, Brazil. The study included 385 caregivers, 216 of whom were in the CAPS Geral, 86 in the CAPS AD and 83 in the UPHG, and applied the Family Burden Interview Scale (FBIS-BR). Excel and SPSS were used to organize and analyze the data, and a 5% significance level was applied. The results show that the general objective burden was greater for caregivers at the UIPHG. This group was also found to bear a greater objective burden with regard to caring in day-to-day life. The analysis of the subjective sub-scales showed that caregivers from the UIPHG group were most troubled by supervising problematic behaviors and also by the future and patient’s type of care and medical treatment. Variables including sex and age were associated with burden.