Caregiver Burden, Quality of Life and Coping Mechanisms among Caregivers of Children Living with HIV in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Children living with HIV/AIDS (CLWHA) are significantly affected psychosocially and their caregivers may experience stress with negative effects. This study assessed the caregiver burden, quality of life and coping mechanisms.
Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 246 caregivers of CLWHA. Psychological distress and caregivers’ burden was assessed using General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and Zarit Burden Interview-12 (ZBI-12) respectively.
Data analysis was done using Epi info software version 7 and the level of significance was set at p <0.05. Ethical approval and informed consent were duly obtained.
Results: Of the sample (n=246), 93.1% were females and the mean age of the caregivers was 41.3±8.5 years. Only 9.4% of the respondents had a high caregiver burden while majority (72.0%) experienced ‘no to mild’ burden. Over half (54.9%) had mild to severe psychological distress. The physical domain aspect of quality of life scored highest (71.1±15.0), while the lowest was in the environment domain (57.6±15.6). Religious coping was the most adopted mechanism in this study.
Conclusion: Majority were categorized as having mild or no caregiver burden but experienced psychological distress while caring for CLWHA. Psychological wellbeing and the mental health of caregivers of CLWHA should be a focus of support.

Keywords: Burden, Caregiver, Children, Coping, HIV