Effectiveness of an Educational Nursing Intervention on Caring Ability and Burden in Family Caregivers of Patients with Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases. A Preventive Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.
Myriam Duran Parra, Claudia Consuelo Torres, Ligia Betty Arboleda and 3 others
PMID 31083841WHAT IT FOUND
A 3-hour educational workshop reduced caregiver burden in the intervention group but not significantly more than standard disease education.
Caring ability scores actually decreased, particularly in courage, suggesting the single-session format may be ineffective or harmful.
Key findings
01The intervention group showed a statistically significant reduction in caregiver burden scores, while the control group did not show a significant change in burden levels.
02There was no significant difference in the magnitude of burden reduction between the intervention and control groups when comparing continuous scores.
03Caring ability scores decreased significantly in the intervention group, driven by a decline in the courage dimension, while the control group also saw decreases that were not statistically significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (34 participants), limiting the power to detect differences between groups. Follow-up was only one day after the intervention, so long-term effects on burden and ability are unknown. There was a significant baseline imbalance in socioeconomic status between the two groups, which may have confounded the results. The intervention was delivered individually rather than in a group, which the authors suggest may have reduced its effectiveness by preventing peer support.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by Universidad de Santander, Los Comuneros University Hospital, and the Latin American Caring Network for Chronic Patients and their Families. No specific financial conflicts of interest were declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the intervention group's improvement in burden was due to the specific 'Caring for Caregivers' workshop content, as the control group also improved and the difference between groups was not statistically significant. Furthermore, do not interpret the decrease in caring ability scores as a measurement error; the authors suggest the single-session format may have been exhausting or insufficient to build confidence.