Assessing Health and Quality of Life burden on Caregivers of Chronically and Terminally Ill Patients ? Evidence Based Systematic Review from a Global Perspective

Care giving for all chronically/terminally ill/incapacitated patients exacts a tremendous toll on the physical, psychosomatic and social health of caregivers. Stressors such as duration of care giving, need of alertness, worsening of disease symptoms, medical management, loss of the care recipient, financial constraints, personal sacrifices, coping strategies, and sometimes the basic lack of awareness towards their own health give rise to poor quality of life for the carers. In this paper we will systematically review the various Interventions taken globally to assess Burden of Caregiver (BοC), determine causal factors and how they affect the quality of life of the caregivers. Data source of citations from five electronic databases (Pubmed, Medline, CINAHL, Embase and Ovid) were searched for the period of last ten years. Systematic reviews that include "end of life care", terminal illness, burden of caregiver (BοC), mental health, psychometrics and care giving were considered including peer reviewed journals.