Post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder among caregivers of patients with stroke

Objective: In this study, it has been aimed to investigate prevalence and risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) among caregivers of stroke patients.

Methods: Eighty-six caregivers participated in the study. All caregivers of stroke patients have joined a physical rehabilitation program in Kocaeli University Hospital and a private rehabilitation center between April and June 2013.Sociodemographic form and general health questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) have been used to assess the cases. PTSD and MDD modules of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID1) have been used for the diagnose of PTSD and MDD.

Results: 37.2% of participants have met the diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV MDD and 20.9% for PTSD. Cluster analysis revealed that caregivers can be divided into two subgroups which are classified by the presence of MDD, PTSD and mean scores of GHQ-12. There was a statistically significant difference between the two caregiver clusters in terms of patients’ gender, age, and the duration of the illness, employment, sharing the same house with the patient, the duration of caregiving, history of a psychiatric disorder, history of a psychiatric disorder in first degree relatives, financial burden of medical expenses.

Conclusion: Results of this study have shown that there is a substantially high prevalence of PTSD and MDD among caregivers of stroke patients. The high psychopathology rates among caregivers of stroke patients reveal the importance of therapeutic intervention attempts for relatives of these patients.