[Perception of long term overload in care-givers of patients who have survived a stroke]

Increased survival of patients with stroke, and reduction in the time spent in hospital, has led to more domiciliary care and extra problems of adjustment for the patient chronically disabled by the stroke and for his carer.

Ninety patient-carer units from the Stroke Unit of the Hospital Universitario San Carlos in Madrid were evaluated one year after the stroke. Eighty carers were assessed on the Zarit Overload Scale, SF-36 Health Questionnaire and the Quality of Life Questionnaire for carers.

The carer overload after one year, as measured on the Zarit Scale correlated with the neurological deficit on the Scandinavian Scale (p = 0.003), disability according to the Barthel index (p < 0.0001), female sex (p = 0.0009) and state of mind (p = 0.0001) of the patients. The health SF-36 profile categories most affected were mental health, vitality, pain and general health with average values of 61-62; women scored worse than men in the pain category (p = 0.01) and in physical functions (p = 0.005). Forty two percent recognized that their role was emotionally exhausting and 56% had low morale on the quality of life questionnaire for carers.

Overload of the carers of stroke patients has a considerable effect on their emotional state and social relations, so evaluation is necessary to avoid pathological effects on careers of chronic overload.