The Relationship Between Psychological and Physical Secondary Conditions and Family Caregiver Burden in Spinal Cord Injury: A Correlational Study

Caregiver burden (CB) is a consequence of providing care to people with spinal cord injury (SCI). CB has been described as a multidimensional experience affecting physical, mental, and social aspects of caregiver health that contributes to a decrease in quality of life (QoL) of family members. Individuals with SCI report physical or psychological secondary conditions resulting from reduced functionality, QoL, and social participation. The prevention, treatment, or cure of secondary conditions has a significant impact on the everyday life of both caregivers and care recipients. This study indicates that the burden experienced by family caregivers of people with SCI is directly related to the extent of physical secondary complications of care recipients. Significantly higher levels of perceived burden were identified in caregivers with lower education, those whose care recipients were affected by tetraplegia and incomplete injuries, and caregivers providing support for a prolonged period.

• 1
  Caregivers with lower education showed statistically significant higher levels of burden. This was also true for those providing care for more than 3 years and those providing more than 8 hours of caregiving daily.
• 2
  Physical complications were all correlated with at least one dimension of perceived burden. In contrast, no correlations were identified between the psychological status of care recipients and the level of burden among family caregivers.
• 3
  Bladder dysfunction and UTIs showed correlations with all CBI-SCI dimensions, even including the developmental and physical aspects of burden. Similarly, chronic pain experienced by care recipients was weakly related to the developmental and the emotional burdens perceived by caregivers.