Quality of Life and Associated Risk Factors in Caregivers of Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disease that affects social relationships, and occupational and academic performance of patients and their relatives due to cognitive, emotional, and behavioural aspects of the disease. Quality of life (QoL) in relatives of patients with OCD has previously been reported and compared with caregivers of patients with other psychiatric conditions. However, there are few studies available in the literature regarding the causality of QoL in caregivers of patients with OCD. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate QoL of caregivers of patients with OCD and predictors of QoL of the family caregivers. METHODS: The study population comprised of 68 patients with OCD and their caregivers. The dependent variable of this study is "QoL of caregivers" as assessed by the short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV/Clinical Version (SCID-I/CV), Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS), Y-BOCS symptom checklist, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and WHOQOL-BREF-TR were completed by the patients, whereas the SCID-I/CV, WHOQOL-BREF-TR, and Burden Assessment Scale (BAS) were completed by the caregivers. Student's t-test, MWU, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, and Spearman's correlations were used in univariate analyses, and multiple linear regression tests were run in multivariate analyses. Critical VIF values were taken as 5.0 for detecting collinearity among independent variables in the regression analyses. Type 1 error was taken as 0.05 in the analyses. RESULTS: Linear regression analysis showed that caregivers' sex, education level, occupational status, disease burden, and patients' sex, physical QoL, and disease severity were predictors of caregivers' QoL. Moreover, disease burden was the only common predictor that affected all four dimensions (physical, psychological, social relations, environmental) of the caregiver's QoL, and as the perceived disease burden increased, the caregiver's QoL deteriorated.

Family reported outcomes, an unmet need in the management of a patient's disease: appraisal of the literature

“…The high caregiving demands of children with developmental disabilities, especially if outwardly visible, contributed to social isolation [33]. The parents of children with obsessive compulsive disorder experienced interruptions in social life such as postponing social activities [71]. Parents of children receiving palliative care felt little desire to go out, indicating that the severity of their child's disease led to a loss of interest in leisure activities [72].…”

“…Work was seen to have a positive impact on the QoL of mothers, as it provided temporary relief from their caring role, time to socialise and offset the financial burden [47,71]. However, many family members caring for their relative suffered work impairment [75,86] and had to give up their jobs, change jobs, alter career choices or reduce their work hours to look after an ill family member and to manage hospital visits [64,70,87,88].…”

Improving the Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s Disease through Virtual Communities of Practice: A Quasiexperimental Study

“…In prior research on caregivers to those with chronic disease, demographic parameters were associated with caregivers' QoL. Specifically, the most common related factors were gender, age, and level of education [ 30 , 31 ]. Female caregivers, typically the majority of caregivers, appear to face a greater adverse impact on QoL [ 32 ].…”

Coping Strategies and Burden Dimensions of Family Caregivers for People Diagnosed with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

“…Although some families cope with providing care for relatives with mental disorders, others also find it hard. People exhibit numerous individual differences, and studies have shown a relationship between caregivers’ income, educational level [ 4 ], age [ 5 ] and their ability to manage their life when caring for people diagnosed with OCD. Some theories have been proposed to explain such variation.…”

“…Although there is an abundance of evidence available in the literature, there is still lack of a theoretical foundation underlying most of the evidence [ 14 ]. A study conducted by Suculluoglu-Dikici et al [ 4 ] found that several factors affect burden. Suculluoglu-Dikici and colleagues recommended behavioral management to protect family health.…”