Care burden and associated factors among caregivers of patients with bipolar type I disorder

Family caregivers play a significant role in providing care for these people at home and need new evidence on the outcomes of their caregiving. Caregiving for people with chronic psychiatric disorders, especially Bipolar type I Disorder (BD-I), is a major challenge in the healthcare system. This study aimed to examine the relationship between caregiver burden, resilience and optimism in family caregivers of patients with BD-I.

This study used a cross-sectional design and involved 209 family caregivers of people with BD-I by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). The participants were selected from the list of family caregivers covered by the Ibn Sina Hospital's health clinic in Mashhad, Iran. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis with a significance level of 0.05.

The average ages of the caregivers and their patients were 45.43 (13.34) and 36.7 (14.05), respectively. The average caregiver burden score was 41.92 (19.18), which was moderate (31 to 60). The predictors of caregiver burden in this study were caregiver-related factors such as optimism (p < 0.001, β = 0.25) and employment status (housewife: p = 0.038, β = 0.43; self-employed: p = 0.007, β = 0.12; retired: p < 0.001, β = 0.23), and patient-related factors such as the presence of psychotic symptoms (p < 0.001, β = 0.33), daily caregiving hours (p < 0.001, β = 0.16), history of suicide attempts (p = 0.035, β = 0.43), and alcohol consumption (p < 0.001, β = 0.85). These variables explained 58.3% of the variance in caregiver burden scores.

The study concluded that family caregivers of people with BD-I had moderate levels of caregiver burden and low resilience, influenced by various factors related to themselves and their patients. Psychological education interventions within the framework of mental health support systems are recommended to reduce caregiver burden in these people.