Caregiver Burden among Caregivers of Individuals with Mental Illness in a Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: A caregiver can be defined as a family member who stays with patient together for more than one year and has been closely involved in the patient's activities of daily living, and discussions related to care of health. The needs of caregivers of the mentally ill are given low priority and is conventionally not addressed. Poor quality of life among caregivers sometimes compromises family functioning and dynamics and ultimate care of the patient. This study aims to assess the level of caregiver burden among those looking after the mentally ill patients and find the association between demographic factors and the level of burden. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study amongst the caregivers of patients with chronic mental illness presenting to the Psychiatry the outpatient department of Nepal Police Hospital between 15th July to 30th September, 2024. The Zarit Burden Interview was used to collect the data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 26 was used for the analysis of data. Descriptive statistics (percentage and frequency) and inferential statistics (chi-square) were used for the statistical analysis of the study. P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Using the ZBI, we found that 9.9% of the caregivers experienced “no to low” burden, 27.5% “mild to moderate”, 38.5% “moderate to severe”, and 24.4% “severe” burden. The mean score of the responses to ZBI was 55.63 ± 17.19. The level of burden experienced was significantly associated with gender (p-value 0.01), relation to care recipient (p-value 0.02), and number of relapses (p-value 0.04). Conclusions: A High level of burden among caregivers of individuals with mental illness exists. Mental health professionals need to develop innovative programs for caregivers of patients with chronic mental illnesses.