Correlation between quality of life of cardiac patients and caregiver burden

BACKGROUND: Caregivers experience high strain related to care giving. There is increasing interest in examining the caregiver burden of cardiac patients and studying the characteristics of caregivers. PURPOSE: To explore the correlation between quality of life cardiac patients and caregiver’s burden. METHODS: A cross-sectional design using a convenience sample of caregivers and patients with cardiac conditions. Sociodemographic sheet, Dutch Objective Burden Inventory (DOBI), and Quality of Life (QLI-Cardiac 4). Linear regression was used to explore the predictors. RESULTS: 200 caregivers and 200 patients with cardiac diseases completed the study. The overall mean scores of both DOBI and QLI-4 indicated moderate results 1.51(SD 0.4), 19.8 (SD 4.7) respectively. Predictors of caregiver burden were young, less educated caregivers and high QoL of cardiac patients. CONCLUSION: Caregivers should receive more support and training from healthcare providers to develop their coping and resilience skills in a way that decreases their care burden and improves their quality of care and self-confidence.