Informal caregivers of people undergoing haemodialysis: Associations between activities and burden

Recent studies indicate that informal caregivers provide support to family members who are undergoing haemodialysis although the amount and type of activities provided and the burden of this is not well-known.

To analyse the burden and support activities of informal caregivers caring for adults receiving haemodialysis.

A cross-sectional study recruited 178 adult informal caregivers (family members or close friends) of patients who had been undergoing haemodialysis for more than three months. Caregiver burden was measured by the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS). Difficulty and time-spent on caring tasks were assessed using the Oberst Caregiver Burden Scale (OCBS). Demographic characteristics were also collected.

Most informal caregivers were female (55.6%) between 30 and 60 years of age (66%) and were a spouse of the person receiving haemodialysis. Overall, informal caregivers reported a high level of burden in caring (M = 40.15, standard deviation [SD] = 10.46) with 80.9% identifying the level as severe. However, the caring activities were perceived as slightly difficult (M = 24.5, SD = 8.81) and not requiring much time (M = 29.47, SD = 8.75). Predictors of greater informal caregiver burden were having their own health problems, greater time required to provide care, and doing more difficult tasks (R²  = 0.43, p < 0.01).

While the caregiving activities were not reported to take much time, there was a high level of burden on informal caregivers. Renal nurses are ideally placed to assess for caregiver burden and to provide education and support to them.