PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITIES AND BURDEN IN CAREGIVERS OF PATIENTS OF OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental disorder that can be a source of emotional, financial and/or social burden for family caregivers. Few studies have investigated family caregiving for patients diagnosed with OCD in relation to the coping strategies being used from a theoretical perspective. This study evaluated the burden and coping strategies of family caregivers for people diagnosed with OCD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which 94 participants diagnosed with OCD and their caregivers were surveyed using Burden assessment schedule (BAS) used to measure burden among caregivers of patients of OCD. Results: The mean ages of the patients were 36.03 + 12.03 and the caregivers were 43.28 + 14.76. Only 46.8% of the caregivers were female, compared to 74.5% of the patients who were female. Patients spouses made up half of the caregivers (50%) and parents made up almost a quarter (22%) The average length of the illness was 8.10± 6.60 years, and the average length of the cure was 4.04 ±4.47 years. The mean BAS score for the caregiver was 39.52 ±12.99. The Relationship Between Sociodemographic, Clinical, Quality-of-Life, and Disease Burden of Patients The BAS scores of caregivers who had patients who thought their income was low were significantly higher than those of the other caregivers (p=0.013). Conclusions: Designing strategic interventions for family caregiver coping is necessary to support the unique burdens and coping mechanisms faced by family caregivers of people with OCD.