BURDEN OF CARE IN THE CAREGIVERS OF INDIVIDUAL WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE DISORDER

Background: Schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder are complex psychiatric illneses, which are stressful not only for the patients, but also for the family members. Deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients has led to a greater emphasis on family management in the community and family members are often overwhelmed by the demands of caring for a mentally ill patient.
Aim: The study aims to examine the family burden and compare the differences between the caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder.
Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional hospital based single contact study. Purposive sampling was used to select samples, which included 60 caregivers involving 30 caregivers each of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Socio demographic data sheet and family burden interview schedule were used for the assessment. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 20.0 for windows was used for analysis of data.
Results & Conclusion: Result reveals that majority of the caregivers belong to rural background, are married, have joint family and are hindu by religion. Statistically significant difference was found between caregivers of patient with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder in relation to financial burden, disruption of family activity and effect of mental health of other of the domains of Family burden interview schedules. The study concluded that caregivers of patients with schizophrenia had perceived more burden than the caregivers of patients with bipolar affective disorder.
Keywords: Bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia, family burden.