Burden of Caring for Persons with Schizophrenia: A Cross-sectional Study from Two Tertiary Hospitals in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia can cause increased psychological distress and burden of care on care givers and family members who often play a vital role as caregivers in the long term management of these individuals. Aims: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of burden of caring for persons with schizophrenia and identify factors associate with it. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on a sample of primary care givers of out-patients with schizophrenia. One hundred and thirty eight participants were enrolled into the studies from March to June 2025. Burden of care was assessed on the basis of participants’ self report. Socio-demographic and other independent variables were collected and compared on the basis of Burden of care. Logistic regression analysis was done to determine predictors of burden of caring for person with schizophrenia. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.11±9.03, and 76.1% of participants were females. The prevalence of burden of care among primary caregivers was 55.8%. Factors related to burden of caring were  duration of illness (x2=7.9,P=.006) duration of care giving (x2=13.4,P<.001), frequency of contact with the ill person (x2=13.8,P<.001) By multivariate analysis, High psychological disdress scores (OR 4.67,P=.001) long duration of mental disorder (OR= 2.4, P=.05), available assistance in care giving (OR=0.036,P=.007) and high frequency of contact with the patient (OR=6.68, P= .006) were predictive of high levels of burden of care. Conclusion: A high prevalence of burden of care was found amongst care givers of persons with schizophrenia in mental health services in south-south Nigeria. Interventional strategies are required to reduce the level of burden of care experienced by care givers of these patients.