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Care stress in caregivers of disabled stroke patients: a cross-sectional survey

Background: A cross-sectional survey was performed on the family members of disabled stroke survivors, those who are both the patient's medical authorizer and caregiver,to identify the sources of the caring stress and inform appropriate interventions.; Methods: A total of 242 family members of stroke patients, who were treated in a tertiary geriatric hospital in Haikou, the capital city of Hainan Province, were enrolled in the current study by using convenience sampling. Questionnaire forms were used to investigate care stress caused by family members' current care activitiesand analyze its causes.; Results: The care stress of the family members was moderately positively correlated with financial pressure (r=0.476, P<0.01). Family members' educational background, financial pressure, the times of hospitalizations, the dependency of stroke patients, and the degree of family members' participation in treatment decisionmaking during the patient's hospital stay were the primary sources of the caring stress (P<0.05 or P<0.01).; Conclusions: A substantial proportion of family members are under high stress when caring for disabled stroke patients. Strategies including knowledge training, empowerment, home-based rehabilitation, and information and emotional support may effectively relieve the caring stress, to improve the family support of patients, improve the quality of life of both patients and caregivers, and enhance the rehabilitation effectiveness.

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Key Information

Type of Reference
Jour
Type of Work
Journal article
Publisher
AME Publishing Company
ISBN/ISSN
2224-5839
Publication Year
2020
Issue Number
4
Journal Titles
Annals of palliative medicine
Volume Number
9
Start Page
2211
End Page
2220