Quality of life among caregivers of individuals with affective disorders

Objective ms of this study were as follows: 1. to assess the quality of life (QoL) of caregivers of individuals with affective disorders (major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder); 2. to compare QoL levels with those observed in caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia and in the general population; 3. to determine the impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on the caregiversʹ QoL. s ere collected from the psychiatric departments of a French public teaching hospital. QoL was measured with the SF-36 questionnaire. The QoL of 232 caregivers of individuals with affective disorders was compared with 246 caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia and 232 French age–sex-matched controls. s vers of individuals with affective disorders experienced lower QoL levels than French age–sex-matched controls. The most severe impairment concerned psychological distress, social and role disability due to emotional problems (SF36-mental composite score = 38.2). In contrast, caregivers of individuals with affective disorders reported higher SF36 dimension scores than caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia. Among caregivers of individuals with affective disorders, women (p = 0.010), parents/family or spouse (p = 0.017), caregivers living in the same home (p = 0.003) and caregivers of individuals with MDD (p = 0.005) were significantly associated with a lower SF36-mental composite score. sion L of caregivers of individuals with affective disorders is seriously impaired, mainly because of an altered psychological or mental well-being and social life. QoL adds interesting and complementary information to information that has been traditionally collected (burden, stress, perceived stigma) and facilitates the identification of specific needs that should be addressed in support groups for caregivers.