Psychiatric distress in family caregivers of patients with COVID-19.
Mehdi Jafari-Oori, Abbas Ebadi, Seyyed Tayeb Moradian and 3 others
PMID 35337441WHAT IT FOUND
77.75% of Iranian family caregivers of relatives with COVID-19 had depression, 75% anxiety and 80% stress on a self-report scale; younger, married, health-related work, no exercise and higher income were linked to greater distress.
Key findings
01On the DASS-21, 77.75% had depression, 75% had anxiety and 80% had stress.
02The mean fear score was 20.33 on a 7 to 35 scale, where higher means more fear.
03Being younger, married, having a health-related occupation, not exercising and having higher income independently predicted higher DASS total score.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it can show associations at one time but cannot show that any factor caused caregiver distress. Participants were recruited online through social media and websites using convenience sampling, and the sample was uneven across cities and included many caregivers from Tehran. Caregivers of severe or hospitalized cases were excluded, so the findings may not apply to families caring for the sickest patients. The regression models reported R-squared values of 0.34 for DASS total score and 0.33 for fear score, so many factors associated with distress were not measured. The study did not test any nursing support, counseling or other intervention.
Declared interests
The research was supported by Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that marriage, health-related work, lack of exercise or higher income cause caregiver distress, or that psychiatric nursing support will reduce it. This was an online cross-sectional survey, not a test of cause or treatment.