Huang, Jianan

Background: Family caregivers assume substantial caregiving responsibilities for persons with chronic conditions, such as individuals with spinal cord injury, which leads to negative impacts on their lives. Respite care and other services are provided as a temporary relief and support for them. Design of appropriate respite care programs depends on identification of beneficiary subgroups for the different types of service.

Objective: To describe the living situation of family caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury. Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire. Subjects: Primary family caregivers of persons with chronic spinal cord injury in Switzerland. Methods: Cross-sectional study of family caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury. For comparison, the study population was matched to family care givers of persons dealing with long-term health condi tions in the general population, using a propensity score based algorithm.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.; Objective: The objective of this study is to identify what characteristics of the family caregivers influenced the use of professional home care for persons with SCI in Switzerland.; Setting: Community setting, nationwide in Switzerland.; Methods: Questionnaires were filled out by the adult family caregivers of persons with SCI. Influence of characteristics of the caregivers was analyzed with regression models, adjusting for the characteristics of the person with SCI.