Quality of life of caregivers of end‐stage kidney disease patients: Caregivers or care recipients?

Abstract

Background End‐stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients require specific and continuous care, which affects caregivers' quality of life (QOL). It is necessary to define the basic problems and restrictions upon family caregivers of renal patients affecting their physical and psychological status. Objectives The main objectives of this narrative review were to examine the literature over the past 10 years, to describe factors associated with QOL of caregivers of patients with ESKD, and to identify the level of subjective burden reported by caregivers. Methods A literature search was carried out using the following electronic databases: PubMed, Medscape, Science Direct, Scopus, PsychINFO and other scientific sources. Keywords included 'quality of life', 'caregivers', 'end stage kidney or renal disease patients', 'burden' and a combination of these terms. Only studies from January 2010 to December 2020 were included in this study. Results The results found that there was significant burden and distress experienced by caregivers that affected their QOL. Patients' QOL is associated with caregivers' QOL. The hours of caring per day and the long‐term replacement therapy are associated with great burden. Conclusions More awareness to caregivers' QOL is required to meet their needs, reduce anxiety and to improve patients' QOL. Caregiver support could empower and prepare them for initiation of replacement therapy. This can potentially enhance their diseased family members' QOL and could also restrict the use of health care system resources. Given how difficult it is to conceptualize QOL, a holistic approach to patients and caregivers require QOL assessment in each stage of the kidney disease.

The mediating effect of family resilience between coping styles and caregiver burden in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study

“…This, in turn, compromises the quality of care provided [ 5 ]. These findings are consistent with those reported by Alshammari et al, who found that the patient’s attitude toward their illness, the duration of care, and the nature of the patient’s treatment impact the caregiver’s burden [ 33 , 37 ]. Therefore, healthcare professionals can alleviate caregiver burden by evaluating and addressing patients’ coping styles through cognitive-behavioral therapy.…”

“…This finding is consistent with Niko et al reporting that higher levels of burden are associated with poorer physical health [ 36 ]. Therefore, more attention and support need to be given to caregivers with health problems [ 37 ]. Finally, the study showed that the caregiver burden score was significantly higher for widowed/divorced people.…”

“…Zarit and colleagues [ 37 ] developed the Caregiver Burden to assess caregivers’ burden. The Chinees version of Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22) [ 38 ], which has been tested in Chinese samples with good reliability and validity, was used in the current study.…”

Predictors of quality of life among caregivers of patients with moderate to severe kidney disease: an Australian cross-sectional study

“…Several studies among caregivers of patients with ESKD [18,19] and other chronic conditions [20] have shown that a longer caregiving time is associated with impaired QoL. While our ndings support previous studies, we have gone a step further by exploring the in uence of caregiving time on different domains of QoL as measured by the Adult Carer Quality of Life Questionnaire.…”

study on the caregivers' burden and social support among primary caregivers of kidney recipients

“…For the individual who cares for organ recipients, the care process might be challenging. The care process will profoundly impact the person's social, psychological, and emotional wellbeing (Rodrigue et al, 2010;Paschou et al, 2018;Vovlianou et al, 2021).…”