Needs, aggravation, and degree of burnout in informal care providers of patients with chronic CVD

Abstract Background. The growing number of patients with chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) has created an increased demand for homecare. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the burden of homecare on caregivers, and gain insight into their biopsychosocial situations. By identifying groups of caregivers that experience significant levels of stress and burnout, guardian education (i.e. specialized and supportive training) and practical support can be specifically directed towards these groups. This study aimed to answer two main questions with respect to home carers for people with CVD: 1) Are the needs of home carers being met (and at what level), and what is the severity of burnout of home carers? and 2) What sociodemographic variables of home carers are related to unmet needs and severity of burnout? Methods. This study reports on 161 informal home care providers of patients with CVDs. The research was conducted in the homes of patients, using the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and a structured interview questionnaire developed by the authors. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient test and logistic regression were used for analyses. Results. The majority of the participants were female (70.2%; n = 113). We found that younger care providers were less likely to report unmet needs (p = 0.011), and less likely to report burnout as measured by the MBI Emotional Exhaustion (p = 0.010) and Depersonalization (p = 0.009) subscales. Care providers with primary education were more likely to report burnout on the MBI Depersonalization subscale (p = 0.028). In addition, care providers who worked more often reported higher levels of met needs (p = 0.022), and burnout as measured on the MBI Depersonalization (p = 0.005) and Emotional Exhaustion (p = 0.018) subscales. Subjects residing in urban areas were more likely to report unmet needs (p = 0.007), and were also more likely to report burnout as measured on the MBI Emotional Exhaustion (p = 0.006) subscale. Conclusion. Older care providers who are unemployed and reside in cities and unemployed should be targeted with directed programmes to determine the category of unmet needs, and for personalized support. Care providers with these demographic characteristics should be targeted for occupational burnout prevention programmes.