A Description of the Burden on Caregivers of Stroke Patients in Vietnam

[[abstract]]Objectives: To identify factors related to caregiver burden among caregivers of stroke survivors in Vietnam, including the functional dependence of patient, caregiver depression and anxiety, their perceived social support, as well as demographic characteristics, and to describe the relationships among them.Methodology: A descriptive correlation cross-sectional study was performed, with a convenience sample of caregivers (n = 114) of stroke survivors in Northern Vietnam. Data was collected using a questionnaire on participant’s characteristics, The Zarit Burden Interview, The Barthel Index, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression, and The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. A descriptive analysis was performed, the relationship among study variables were analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Independent Sample t-Test, Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation and Spearman’s rank correlations, Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to discover the predictors to caregiver burden. Hayes’ PROCESS macro was used to test the mediation effects of depression and anxiety symptoms, and perceived social support in the relationship between functional dependence and caregiver burden after controlling for socio-demographic variables. Indirect effects were tested using bootstrapped confidence intervals (CI).Results: The results showed that the burden of caregivers of stroke survivors was at a mild to moderate level with a mean score of 25.59 (SD = 12.45). The caregiver burden had a positive correlation with anxiety symptoms and depression symptoms, caregiver’s age, and caring hours per day, whereas it was negatively correlated to functional dependence, relationship to the patient, and self-perceived health status. However, caregiver burden was not a statistically significant correlation to perceived social support. A combination of anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and functional dependence predicted 41.2% of the variance in caregiver burden. Functional dependence was the strongest predictor of caregiver burden with the highest absolute value of the standardized regression coefficient. While depression symptoms and anxiety symptoms served as a mediator between functional dependence and caregiver burden (β = -0.0394, 95% CI -0.0793 to -0.0088, and β = -0.0414, 95% CI -0.0949 to -0.0152 respectively), perceived social support did not show a statistically significant mediation effect. Conclusions: Depression and anxiety symptoms mediated the relationship between functional dependence and caregiver burden among caregivers of stroke survivors in Vietnam. It is crucial for health care professionals to pay more attention to caregiver’s mental health to provide mental health screening, appropriate psychological counseling, care training and health education in early stages with aiming of reducing the severity of anxiety and depression of caregivers, decreasing their burden, improving the quality of care for stroke patients, and enhancing the quality of life for caregivers. Keywords: Caregiver burden, functional dependence, depression and anxiety symptoms, perceived social suppor