Assessment of Family Burden of Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia-Need of the Hour

Background: Schizophrenia is a debilitating, persistent disorder that requires continuous care and support. Families of Schizophrenic patient provide proper help, care and support to these people. Objectives: 1) To assess the burden on the families of patients suffering from schizophrenia. 2) To find out the relationship of family burden with social functioning, psychosocial dysfunction and the severity of illness. Material and Methods: It was a hospital based, cross-sectional study for the duration of 6 months. Purposive sampling was used to select 100 study participants. Out of the total, 50 study subjects were diagnosed cases of schizophrenia and 50 subjects were diabetic patients taken as controls. These patients had either spouse or other first degree relative as their caregivers. Two pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The clinical symptomatology of the patients was assessed by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Dysfunction was assessed by Dysfunction Analysis Questionnaire (D.A.Q.). The Family Burden Interview schedule was used to assess the family burden. Quantitative data was expressed in the form of mean, standard deviation and using Student’s T-test. Qualitative variables were expressed as percentages and proportions and chi-square test. Statistically significant findings were considered when p value<0.05. Correlation was also seen between various socio-demographic variables. Result: All the caregivers of schizophrenic patients experienced moderate to severe burden in all the areas. Total burden among caregivers of schizophrenic patients was much higher as compared to diabetic patients which was statistically significant also. Conclusion-Families of schizophrenic patients carry a significant burden as compared to diabetes in terms of social, vocational, personal, familial and cognitive areas. Psychosocial intervention program should be instituted on the basis of proper assessment of key caregivers regarding their coping styles, communication skills and community resources. How to cite this article:Sunda LC, Kumari S, Sunda H. Assessment of Family Burden of Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia-Need of the Hour. J Adv Res Psychol Psychother 2019; 2(3&4): 11-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2581.5822.201911