Citation

Qadeer A, Khalid U, Amin M, Murtaza S, Khaliq MF, Shoaib M. Cureus 2017; 9(8): e1590.

Affiliation

Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.1590

PMID

29062622

PMCID

PMC5650257

Abstract

Insufficient attention towards caregivers has resulted in the emergence of psychological and health complaints. Affliction tethers more towards spouses as compared to parents and females as compared to males. The role of sibling care givers was found to be no different from parents or spouses. Marital relationships were found to suffer the most, with the caregiver leaving the traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient in his time of need. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and family assessment device (FAD) predicted a correlation between patient variables and caregiver discontent. The Blacks/Hispanics proved to cope better with stress and their caregiver roles as compared to Whites. Time elapsed since the injury was found to relieve distress, while the surprising severity of the injury has no recorded impact. Social support or rather a lack of it has been seen to have an impact on family homeostasis, which can further be deteriorated by substance abuse by the patient. The therapeutic intervention found to be most advantageous was the D'Zurilla and Nezu social problem-solving model. Current evidence suggests that emphasis should be given on proper education and encouragement of caregivers before discharge of TBI patients from hospital to reduce the incidence of stressors. Additionally, counseling sessions should be led by professionally led support groups for dealing with psychological symptoms and peer-led group to eliminate social insecurities of caregivers.

Language: en

Keywords

caregiver ethnicity; caregiver psychological interventions; caregiver social support.; caregiver stress; traumatic brain injury