Quality Of Life And Relative Factors Among Caregivers Of Epilepsy Patients

Objective:Understand the present status of quality of life about epilepsy patients’caregiversand to find out the main influencing factors. Analyse the caregivers’ ture feelingsin-depth. To provide theoretical basis for clinical nursing work to draw up measures inorder to improve the caregives’ quality of life.Methods:This research is a non-experimental and descriptive study and used the mixedmethod of quantitative research combining with qualitative research. In quantity part,the research used convenience sample survey,120caregivers of the hospitalizedepilepsy patients in the neurology of first hospital of jilin university were asked toparticipate in the study, they were investigated with the General informationquestionnaire, Short Form36Questionnaire, Epilepsy knowledge questionnaire, ZaritBurden Interview, Symptom Check List90part of depression, anxiety, somatizationto know the basic information, quality of life, levels of epilepsy knowledge andcaregiver burden, mental status about epilepsy patients’ caregivers. By usingSPSS17.0software to make the descriptive statistical analysis of the questionnaireresult, t-test, rank sum test, multiple stepwise regression analysis, etc. There weredifferences with statically significance when P<0.05. In qualitative part, the researchadopts the purpose sampling method to select12epilepsy patients’ caregivers that tobe representative, then interview them used the phenomenological method and studyout semi-structural interview syllabus, in order to understand the true feelings aboutcaregivers, after that, to transcribe, arrange, analyse, interpret the theme of interviewmaterial.Result:Quantitative research:1.The QOL of the epilepsy patients’ caregivers was poorand the score of all dimensionalitys of QOL were significantly lower than thatdomestic norm (P<0.01); The level of depression, anxiety and somatization weresignificantly higher than the domestic norm (P<0.01); There were prevail moderatedegree of burden among the caregivers; Caregivers’ cognitive level of knowledge ofepilepsy was lower.2.The score of all dimensionalitys of QOL among the caregivers who have different demographic characteristics were different.3.Differentdimensionalitys of QOL among the caregivers who have different influence factors,and mainly related to age, physical conditions, economic conditions, caregiver burden,patients have no jobs, and second is affected by gender, residence, the level ofdepression, anxiety, somatization, knowledge of epilepsy, patients’ marital status andconcomitance’s disease.4.Physical conditions, economic conditions, residence,gender, cognitive level of knowledge of epilepsy, patients’ marital status and patientshave no jobs were positively correlated with the caregives’ QOL, age, caregiverburden, level of dpression, anxiety, somatization, patients have no concomitance’sdisease were negatively related to it.Qualitative research: After a thorough analysis and summarize, form the threethemes about caregivers’ inner feelings:1.Lack of knowledge associated with disease,include insufficient understanding of disease, lack of knowledge of first aid,medication adherence is poor, worry about drug side effects;2.Take care of the heavyburden, include social activities are affected, the economic burden is overlaod, healthis affected;3.Heavy psychological pressure, include anxiety and worry, lack ofconfidence to patients recovery, full of worries about the future.Conclusion:1.The score of all dimensionalitys of QOL among the epilepsy patients’caregivers were significantly lower than that domestic norm. Caregivers’ cognitivelevel of knowledge of epilepsy was lower. Caregivers’ burden is heavy. The level ofdepression, anxiety and somatization were significantly higher than the domesticnorm.2.Physical conditions, economic conditions, residence, gender, cognitive levelof knowledge of epilepsy, patients’ marital status and patients have no jobs werepositively correlated with caregives’ QOL, age, caregiver burden, level of dpression,anxiety, somatization, patients have no concomitance’s disease were negativelyrelated to it.