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From the Neurosciences Trials Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences,
The University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Background and Purpose—Although
the physical and, to a lesser extent, emotional outcome of stroke
survivors has been well documented, there are far fewer data relating
to the outcomes of those who care for them. We aimed to describe the
outcome of those caring for stroke patients and to identify both
patient and caregiver factors that are associated with poor
caregiver outcomes.
Methods—As part of a randomized trial to evaluate a stroke family
care worker, we identified 417 patients (67% of all referrals to our
institution). We followed up 376 survivors of whom 246 identified a
caregiver at a 6-month follow-up interview. The patients and caregivers
were asked to complete 2 measures of emotional distress (30-item
General Health Questionnaire [GHQ-30] and Hospital Anxiety and
Depression [HAD] Scale). A regression analysis was used to
identify factors that were independently associated with poor caregiver
outcomes.
Results—Fifty-five percent of responding caregivers scored more
than 4 on the GHQ-30, indicating that emotional distress is common in
this group. Caregivers were more likely to be depressed if the patients
were severely dependent (P<0.01) or emotionally
distressed themselves (P<0.01). Female caregivers
reported more anxiety (median HAD=8) than male caregivers (median
HAD=5; P<0.01) but caregivers' levels of anxiety were
not so clearly related to the patients' degree of physical disability
as their levels of depression. Caregivers suffered more emotional
distress if the patients had been dependent before their strokes.
Conclusions—These data may help to identify those caregivers at
greatest risk of poor emotional outcomes and thus help in the planning
of trials and delivery of interventions aimed at preventing or treating
distress among caregivers.
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Original Contributions
A Quantitative Study of the Emotional Outcome of People Caring for Stroke Survivors
Key Words: stroke • caregivers • outcome • depression • anxiety • mood disorders
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