Quality of life of primary caregivers of spinal cord injury survivors.

Quality of life of primary caregivers of spinal cord injury survivors.
Rev Bras Enferm. 2013 Feb;66(1):79-84
Authors: Graça A, Nascimento MA, Lavado EL, Garanhani MR
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze quality of life of caregivers who are relatives of patients with spine cord injury (SCI). Fourteen women (seven caregivers and seven controls) were evaluated by the Medical Outcomes Study 36 - Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS) Questionnaires. The data from both questionnaires were compared using the Mann-Whitney U testing procedure for differences between caregivers and controls (p<0.05). The results from SF-36 were not statistically significant between groups, however, for the CBS data, there were significant differences between groups (p>0.05), characterized by the percentage difference of 62%, 66.7%, 55%, 50%, 57% and 63% for tension, isolation, disappointment, emotional involvement, environment and overall score, respectively. The CBS questionnaire was more adequate for verifying quality of life of caregivers of SCI patients, and caregiving may have a negative impact on their quality of life.
PMID: 23681383 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem - February 1, 2013 Category: Nursing Authors: Graça A, Nascimento MA, Lavado EL, Garanhani MR Tags: Rev Bras Enferm Source Type: research