Burden of Care on Caregivers of Children infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Calabar, Nigeria

An estimated 13.4 million children and adolescents worldwide had lost one or both parents to AIDS as of 2015. Family members, relatives or foster parents and other caregivers who may have other challenges are left to care for the children. Caregivers burden is dependent on the caregiver's overall health, financial, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual wellbeing. This study was therefore conducted to determine the effect of these burdens on caregivers of HIV infected children. This analytical cross-sectional study involved the interview of caregivers, which we defined as, any unpaid layperson willing to participate, whom the patient himself/herself identified as being close, share illness experience and play supportive role. Data was collected using the Zarit Burden instrument. The p-value <0.05 was considered to be significant. One hundred and ten (110) caregivers were studied; their mean age was 35.92 (±10.18) years. Generally, 76.4% of the caregivers had minimal burden while 16.4% had mild to moderate burden. Approximately 5.4%, and 1.8% of the caregivers had moderate and severe burden respectively. The variables studied had some varied effect on the caregivers but none was statistically significant. Routine screening by health care professionals dealing with HIV infected children would help to expose existing caregivers burden and promote the provision of appropriate need driven support. Establishment of caregivers counseling and support groups in healthcare facilities would mitigate some of the challenges.