Caregiver Burden in Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Alcoholism is a major threat to the individual as well as the society and the maximum burden of the illness is borne by the family. AIM: The study is aimed at assessing the pattern of burden on the caregivers of alcohol dependent patients and at assessing the relationship between the severity of dependence and the burden on caregivers. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the Department of Psychiatry, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional assessment was done in 200 patients with alcohol dependence and their caregivers. The severity of dependence and the pattern of burden on caregivers were assessed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data thus collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The study demonstrates that caregivers of alcohol dependent patients reported significant objective burden and subjective burden. Furthermore, the severity of alcohol dependence and the domains of burden such as financial burden, disruption of family interaction, and disruption of family routine activities were positively correlated with high level of significance. CONCLUSION: The current study has illustrated that all the caregivers experienced significant amount of burden which has to be addressed for better treatment outcome of the patients.