Caregivers of persons with stroke: their physical and emotional wellbeing

This descriptive study was undertaken as a pilot test for several questionnaires designed to examine the well-being of caregivers of persons with stroke. This predominantly female sample was found to have moderately few physical symptoms, but to be in considerable emotional distress. Nearly half the sample had anxiety and depression scores above the level identified as suspicious for clinically relevant distress as indexed by the Symptom Questionnaire. Anger was also a salient finding: 40% of those questioned scored above the cutoff level for hostility and several caregivers expressed anger verbally during data collection. The degree of psychological distress in these individuals is of importance to all health care professionals and deserves increased attention, both from the perspective of the researcher and from the perspective of the clinician.