Burden among care-givers of kidney transplant recipients and its associated factors

Burden among care-givers of chronically ill patients has been widely investigated. However, there is no study evaluating perceived pressure on care-givers of kidney transplant recipients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of care-giving to renal transplant recipients in Iranian Muslim population and to analyze factors associated with it. A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 41 care-givers of renal recipients. The Care-giver Burden Scale (CB Scale) was used to evaluate the care-giver s perceived burden and its correlates. Statistical analysis was performed using software SPSS v.13.0. P 0.05 was considered significant. We found that increased care-giver burden was related to being married (p 0.02), having lower education level (p 0.05), and being a parent or spouse to the patient (p 0.05). We also found significant adverse effects of patients second transplantation and gender (male) on care-givers burden. There was no significant relationship between care-giver burden score and patients marital status, education level, operation time, age, donor type (cadaveric or living), and dialysis history before and after transplantation. In conclusion, care-givers experience strain, which has implications for research and service provision. Service providers need to identify those care-givers at risk of greater strain and help them in situations that cannot be altered. Future research should be conducted to identify the effects of interventions, on care-givers burden perception.