Sociodemographic Characteristics Implicated in Severe Caregiver Burden amongst Family Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Sociodemographic characteristics can influence the burden of caring for patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Aim: The aim of this study was to ascertain the sociodemographic characteristics implicated in severe caregiver burden among family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: Over 3 months, 300 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia were consecutively recruited at the psychiatry outpatient department in a tertiary hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa. The sociodemographic characteristics of the caregivers were ascertained. The 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22) was administered to the participants to measure the caregiver burden. Results: The range of ZBI-22 was 0–75 with a median of 19.00 (interquartile range [IQR]: 13.0–30.5). Severe burden occurred in 2.33% (7/300) of the participants. The sociodemographic characteristics that had the highest percentage amongst those with the severe burden (and their median burden score plus IQR) were increasing duration of caregiving 132.0 (72.0–264.0), residing in Northern Gauteng 17.0 (13.0–30.0), age ≥50 years 28.0 (18.0–36.0), female 23.5 (15.0–34.0), married 23.5 (17.0–31.0), parent 27.0 (16.0–36.0), living with the patient 20.0 (14.0–31.0), medical comorbidity 18.5 (14.0–31.0), secondary education 19.0 (13.0–29.0) and having another family member that requires care 27.0 (17.0–42.0). Conclusion: Caregivers with the implicated characteristics require periodic evaluation of their burden of care to offer them available support including referral to appropriate socioeconomic agencies. A future research agenda is to investigate how these characteristics contribute to the burden of care in the study setting. Contribution: An array of sociodemographic characteristics is implicated in severe caregiver burden and their interactions in the study setting need further investigation.