Prevalence of family burden in caregivers of schizophrenia

Background: Schizophrenia is a long standing and debilitating illness affecting almost 1 to 1.5 % of the world population. The present study is done to look into the prevalence of care giver burden and it’s socio-demographic correlates. Aim: To determine the prevalence of care giver burden in patients of Schizophrenia and to look into the socio-demographic correlates. Study Population: 30 care givers of schizophrenia patients attending the Psychiatry OPD in a tertiary care hospital in June 2109. Study Design: Longitudinal cross sectional Non interventional study. Inclusion Criteria: Primary care givers of the schizophrenia patients within the age of 18 to 65 years. Exclusion Criteria: Subjects having any known psychiatric illness and subjects having any chronic physical illness. Scales Administered: Semi structured Pro forma for socio demographic and illness related information. GHQ-12 SCALE, Yoruba Version of Family Burden Interview Scale (Y-FBIS) Results: In 60% of cases spouses were effected. 90% patients had illness for more than 3 years. More than 13 hours per day were spent on 80% cases.