Evaluation of psychological stress in primary caregivers of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis Avaliação do estresse psicológico do cuidador primário do paciente com artrite idiopática juvenil

Iwamoto V.; Dos Santos S.H.P.; Skare T.L.; Spelling P.F.

Evaluation of psychological stress in primary caregivers of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis Avaliação do estresse psicológico do cuidador primário do paciente com artrite idiopática juvenil

Tipo

Artigo

Data de publicação

2008

Periódico

Jornal de Pediatria

Citações (Scopus)

8

Autores

Iwamoto V.
Dos Santos S.H.P.
Skare T.L.
Spelling P.F.

Resumo

Objective: To assess psychological stress in primary caregivers of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) pediatric patients. Methods: Uncontrolled cross-sectional analytical study of 40 caregivers of JIA patients. Caregivers were evaluated using the Caregiver Burden Scale, which analyzes five domains of stress on a scale of 1 to 4: general strain, isolation, disappointment, emotional involvement and strain caused by environmental barriers. The data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: Caregivers of JIA patients were mainly female (87.5%), married (92.1%) and close relatives (90%). Stress levels were higher in caregivers of polyarticular JIA patients (p = 0.006), single caregivers (p = 0.019) and female caregivers (p = 0.017). Environment-related difficulties were reported as the most stressful category by caregivers. Conclusion: Caregivers of JIA patients are usually married female relatives. Caring for polyarticular JIA patients is more stressful than caring for oligoarticular JIA patients. Strain caused by environmental barriers accounts for the highest levels of stress among the caregivers included in this study. Copyright © 2008 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.