Does quality of life of caregivers change when patients with alcohol dependence undergo treatment

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Alcohol dependence can affect the quality of life of caregivers in many ways. Several drinking measures are associated with poorer quality of life in caregivers. We aimed to see whether the quality of life of the caregivers change as patients with alcohol dependence underwent treatment and the factors associated with it. METHODOLOGY: This prospective observational study included dyads of treatment seeking men with alcohol dependence and their caregivers. Quality of life was assessed using WHO Quality of Life BREF Scale at baseline and then at 6 weeks through in-person interviews. RESULTS: Of the 101 dyads recruited in the study, 60 could be followed up at 6 weeks. The mean age of the patients and the caregivers were 35.8 years and 42.9 years, respectively. Seventy-five percent of the caregivers were women. Significant improvement was seen in physical, psychological and environmental quality of life at 6 weeks compared to baseline (mean improvement of 10.6%, 22.2% and 5.8% respectively, t = 3.681, 5.926, 2.960 respectively, all p <0.001). The social quality of life however, did not show significant improvement (mean improvement of 0.7%, t = 0.351 p = 0.727).Improvement in quality of life scores was lesser in those caregivers where the patients had resumed alcohol use within the 6 weeks of treatment. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The quality of life of caregivers does seemingly improve as patients with alcohol dependence initiate treatment. However, lapse and relapse of alcohol use by the patient leads to less improvement. This suggests that initiation of treatment of alcohol dependence not only leads to improvement for patients, but also has beneficial effects on the caregivers and family members.