Study of the burden, coping style of primary caregivers of patients with stroke

Objective To explore caregiver burden and coping strategies of primary caregivers of patients with stroke and their correlation. Methods 120 primary caregivers of patient with stroke from four provincial hospitals of Guangzhou were included in this study. The Chinese version of Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) were applied to assess caregiver burden and coping strategies. Results The total score of caregiver burden of the primary caregivers was (39.54 ± 13.88), 86.7%primary caregivers' burden were in the mild and middle level. Positive coping was used more often than the negative coping among primary caregivers. Positive coping was negatively related to the caregiver burden (P ＜0. O1) and negative coping was positively related to the burden (P ＜ 0. 01). Conclusions Care burden were prevalent in the caregivers of patient with several extent and burden was related with coping style closely. Nurses should guide caregivers to take proper coping style and alleviate disease burden. Key words: Stroke;  Burden of caregivers;  Coping style