The International Tinnitus Journal

Caregiver Burden and Its Correlation With Coping Skills Among Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients With Deaf Perceptions - A Cross Sectional Study.

Background: Mental illness is a leading cause of global burden of disease among both general and deaf persons. Family burden is viewed as the non-mediated effect on families living with and caring for a relative affected by mental illness. Family burden positively affected caregivers financial, physical, mental, and social well-being. To alleviate impact of burden proper coping skills to be implemented by caregivers. Aim: To assess caregivers’ burden and to correlate with coping skills among caregivers. Materials & Methodology: A cross sectional study carried out at SCB medical college, a tertiary care hospital of Odisha with 120 voluntary participants. This study was conducted by collecting data from caregivers by applying Family burden interview schedule and brief COPE inventory questionnaires. Statistical analysis was done on categorical variables, and they were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Continuous variables were measured using mean and standard deviation. The correlation between caregiver burden and the various coping skills was done by using Pearson's correlation test. Results: Severe burden accounted for 60% and moderate for 40%. The highest amount of burden was seen in the areas of physical, financial, mental health, and in areas of external support. The brief COPE showed that the most often used coping styles were practicing religion, problem solving, active coping, and planning. Conclusion: We concluded that caregivers for people with mental illnesses is extremely burdensome. Female caregivers having more burden than male caregivers. Therefore, it's important to come up with helpful strategies, like giving them access to counselling services and a support system. Patients with mental illnesses may also have less relapse prevention as a result.