Informal Caregiver’s Burden of Stroke Patients at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Dhaka

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the informal caregivers' burden of stroke patients at tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 152 informal caregivers of stroke patients were conveniently recruited from Dhaka Medical College Hospital, National Institute of Neuroscience Hospital and Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College Hospital in Dhaka. Data were collected by face-to- face interviews with structured questionnaires and data were analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data collection period was from February to March, 2023. Results: The finding showed that most (92.8%) of the informal caregivers reported severe burdens. The result also showed that the informal caregiver's sex, education, occupation, length of caregiving in days and duration of caregiving in hours per day were statistically significantly correlated with their burden. In terms of patients' characteristics education, monthly family income and length of hospital stay were statistically significantly associated with informal caregiver's burden. Conclusion: The finding of this study showed that informal caregivers had experienced severe burdens. These results suggest that family support systems, financial and social support policies, cognitive counselling, and informal caregiving orientation programs should be developed for the informal caregivers to reduce their burdens.