Effect of Care Burden and Personality Traits of Caregivers on Treatment Compliance and Functionality of Patients With Schizophrenia.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of care burden and personality traits of caregivers on treatment compliance and social functionality of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 50 patients aged 18-65 years diagnosed with schizophrenia ( DSM-5 criteria) who were followed up in the hospital between December 2020 and June 2021. Fifty caregivers (ie, spouses, parents, siblings, and children) were also included in the study. All study participants completed a sociodemographic data form. Caregivers completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Zarit Care Burden Scale (ZCBS). Patients completed the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), the Morisky Treatment Adherence Scale (MTAS), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: There was a positive correlation between MTAS and PANSS scores ( r  = 0.293, P  < .05) of patients with schizophrenia and a negative correlation between MTAS and SFS total scores ( r  = -0.468, P  < .01). There was a positive correlation between MTAS and ZCBS-dependency subgroup scores ( P  < .05). A positive correlation was found between caregivers' TCI subdimensions, especially self-directedness total score and SFS total score ( P  < .01), as well as between self-transcendence total score and total ZCBS score ( P  < .05). Conclusions: Based on the study results, temperament and character characteristics of caregivers affect both the care burden of caregivers and the social functionality of patients; however, larger samples are required to measure the effects of caregivers' personality traits and care burden on patients' functioning and adherence to treatment. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2023;25(6):23m03522 . Author affiliations are listed at the end of this article.