Author(s)

Burak Kulaksizoglu, Buket Cinemre

Department of Psychiatry, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey.

Objective: Schizophrenia is a lifelong chronic psychiatric disorder with a relatively early onset. Renal failure, a chronic physical disorder has also negative effects on the families and causes a serious burden in a similar manner. It is aimed in this study to investigate to what extent the burden, social support and psychological wellbeing among the caregivers of schizophrenic patients compare to those of the caregivers of chronic renal failure patients. Methods: Relatives of patients with schizophrenia and chronic renal failure were included in the study. Each group consisted of 30 volunteers. The volunteers completed demographical information questionnaire, Burden Interview Scale (BIS), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and General Health Questionnaire (GSA). Results: A dominance of female caregivers was found in the study. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of burden. Among the caregivers of chronic renal failure was a positive correlation both between age and burden and education and social support respectively. It was found out that relatives of chronic renal failure got less social support and reported a poorer psychological wellbeing when compared to the relatives of schizophrenic patients. A negative correlation was found between social support and burden in both of the study groups. Conclusion: The results of this study underline the importance of social support in alleviating the burden of the caregivers of chronic patients. The monitarisation of the psychological states of caregivers of both the schizophrenic and renal failure patients has to be taken into consideration.

Schizophrenia, CRF, Burden, Social Support, Psychological Wellbeing

Kulaksizoglu, B. and Cinemre, B. (2019) Comparison of Caregivers of Schizophrenia and Chronic Renal Failure Patients in Terms of Family Burden, Social Support and Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 7, 33-40. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2019.74004.