Quality of Life and Psychological Distress of Caregivers' of Stroke People.

PURPOSE: Caregivers play a substantial role on support at stroke survivors after acute hospitalization. The aims of the current study were: to determine the quality of life of caregivers of patients with stroke, and to evaluate the predictors of quality of life in caregivers.

METHODS: It is a cross-sectional study including 150 caregivers of patients with haemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. Participants completed the Greek version of the 12-item Short Form Health Survey assessing caregivers' quality of life. Caregiver burden was measured with the Revised Greek Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale, and psychological distress was screened with Greek Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales.

RESULTS: A highly negative correlation was found between anxiety (r=0.56) and depression (r=0.59) with physical and mental health (r=0.44, 0.66, r=respectively) from quality of life subscales Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scales. Physical health was influenced by caregivers' health problems (p less than 0.0005), type of stroke (p=0.014), anxiety (p=0.056), depression (p=0.024). Mental health was influenced by caregivers' health problems (p=0.051), burden, anxiety and depression (p less than 0.0005, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers of people with stroke experience mental disorders and burden negatively affecting their quality of life. Therefore, there is a need to implement strategies which should aim to the management of these problems for the welfare of both patients and their caregivers.