Burnout in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia

Background/aim: To evaluate the burnout of schizophrenia patients’ caregivers and to determine the possible relationships between sociodemographic characteristics, symptomatology, perceived social support, and the burnout profile of the caregivers. Materials and methods: Subjects included in the study are 76 schizophrenia patients, diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, and their caregivers. A sociodemographic form, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms were applied to evaluate the severity of the symptoms. The Maslach Burnout Inventory for Caregivers and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were applied to the caregivers of the patients. The collected data were analyzed via Student’s t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results: The burnout profile of the caregivers was highly correlated with the perceived social support of the caregivers and was also correlated with negative symptoms of the patients. Lower perceived social support was related to all subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Conclusion: Perceived social support is a major factor for caregiver burnout and it was highly correlated with all subscales in our study. We think that having social support provides caregivers with better feelings and so they provide better help to the patients. Appropriate approaches should be taken to intervene in the social and clinical factors that may exacerbate the burnout process.