Emotional distress among caregivers of patients with epilepsy in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The study demonstrated a high level of emotional distress associated with caring for patients with epilepsy, which is comparable to other studies carried out in other parts of the world.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Mental Distress among Caregivers of Patients with Epilepsy in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study Design

“…Caregivers are people who take care of others, often parents, spouse, or children with special medical needs or disability and they play an important role in the management of patients with epilepsy [ 1 – 3 ]. Caregiving is a broad responsibility, including not only practical help and care but also emotional support.…”

“…Mental illness influences not only the primary individuals having the diagnosis but also families, friends, and important others around them [ 6 ]. Mental distress among caregivers manifests itself with different levels of depression, anxiety, mood disturbances including losing of hope, feeling sad, loneliness, isolation, fearfulness, being easily bothered, nervousness, somatic symptoms such as headache, fatigue, and insomnia arising from providing care for the person in problem [ 1 , 7 ].…”

Assessment of emotional distress and parenting stress among parents of children with clubfoot in south-western Nigeria

“…7 The prevalence of emotional distress in this study was 15.5% which is relatively low when compared with the prevalence of 65.7% reported among caregivers of patients with epilepsy in the northern part of Nigeria using a similar questionnaire. 16 The prevalence of high/clinically significant parenting stress was 12.0%, and the level of parenting stress was highest for parental distress and lowest for parent-child dysfunctional interaction. Since clubfoot is a non-life threatening birth defect without any associated pain in the child's limb, some parents may not really worry.…”

“…8,13 However, research focusing on the experiences of parents/caregivers of patients with chronic diseases in the clinical setting is increasing. [16][17][18][19] This study assessed emotional distress and parenting stress associated with caring for children with clubfoot using HADS and PSI-SF in which nine (15.5%) parents reported emotional distress and seven (12.0%) had parenting stress. The majority of parents in this study were mothers and this is understandable as it is a common tradition that women are saddled with the duties of care for their children in the family.…”

Assessment of Knowledge, attitude and practices of Epilepsy Patients’ towards their illness and treatment in a tertiary care hospital in Kuantan Pahang Malaysia

“…7,8 Despite scientific advances in its diagnosis and therapy, misconceptions about its cause and treatment still exist. 9 Although seizure control is the mainstay of epilepsy treatment, patient education is critical to improve attitudes andproper coping mechanisms. 10 In the West, several studies have reported thatpeople with epilepsy (PWE) knew only a little more, and in some cases even less, about their disorder than those without epilepsy.…”