Heaith Status And Its Related Factors Among Family Caregivers Of Stroke Survivors

Background:Stroke is a chronic condition that necessitates multidimensional and overwhelming care.The lifestyles and roles of family caregivers pose risks to their physical,mental and social health.Family caregivers have difficulty paying attention to their own health or at low level of health status in the context of poor socioeconomic conditions and risk behaviours,which may have an impact on the quality of caregiving that caregivers provide to stroke survivors and affect rehabilitation of stroke survivors.Which the self-efficacy and caregiving capability of family caregiver may be protective in the context of caregiving conditions,but the interrelations between its aspects and their respective influences remain unclear.Accordingly,identifying the relationships between aspects of health influence factors,and,within them,the components that contribute most,will help guide health decision-makers to determine their priorities when helping family caregivers?Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate self-efficacy,family caregiver task and health status among family caregivers of stroke survivors;and determine the impaction and relationships between general demographic information,functional status of stroke survivors,the duration of caregiving,self-efficacy,family caregiver task and health status;identify predictors of family caregivers' health status.It also provides an objective basis for promoting health of family caregivers.Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted.The study population consisted of family caregivers and the stroke survivors presenting to class 3-A comprehensive hospitals in Shiyan of Hubei Province.The participants were selected through convenience sampling and with total of 248 participants.The data of stroke survivors were collected using the General Questionnaire and Barthel Index.Family caregivers' data were collected using the General Questionnaire,Family Caregiver Task Inventory,General Self-Efficacy Scale and the Short-Form 36 Health Survey Scale(SF-36)and all data were analyzed in SPSS through descriptive statistics,t-test or chi-square test,Variance analysis,Pearson's correlation and Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis.Results: Family caregivers health status scored(59.91 ±12.88),the mean scores on the PCS and the MCS were(64.24±17.83)and(55.58±10.60).The results indicated that the health level of the caregivers was poorer compared with that of the general population(P<0.001).The average score of family caregiver task was(33.09±7.21).The mean score of self-efficacy was(25.52±3.57).Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that BI scores of stroke and multiple people involved in caring,self-efficacy,age of family caregivers were entered the regression equation model,which could explain 27.3% the total variance of PCS.Family caregivers of self-efficacy,family caregiver task,type of relationship with the patients,educational levels,marital status,age of stroke survivors were entered the regression equation model,which could explain 36.5% the total variance of MCS.Pearson's correlation analyses also showed a significant negative correlation between the PCS/MCS scores and the total score of family caregiver task(r =-0.369/-0.452,P<0.01).A statistically significant positive relationship was observed in this study between the self-efficacy and the two summary score of SF-36(PCS/MCS)(r = 0.354/0.457,P < 0.01).Family caregiver task were negatively associated with the self-efficacy of family caregivers(r =-0.431,P<0.01).Conclusion: Family caregivers of stroke survivors of health status were at low level.Significant impairments were observed in both their mental and physical health.The family caregiver task were were at low level.The self-efficacy were middle.The influence factors of health status with family caregivers were BI scores of stroke survivors and multiple people involved in caring,family caregivers of self-efficacy,age,family caregiver task,type of relationship with the patients,educational levels,marital status,the age of stroke survivors.The higher self-efficacy and family caregiver task predicted better the level of health.Therefore,the caregiving skills support provided to the caregiver might be influential on the functional recovery of the patients,enhancing caregiver self-efficacy and caregiving capability can be considered integral parts of interventions to improve caregiver health status.