The Socioeconomic Burden of Family Caregivers of Patients withEnd-Stage Renal Disease in A Tertiary Hospital in North West,Nigeria: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Kidney diseases constitute one of the non-communicable diseases with significant global
burden. Each year, about 1.7 million people die of kidney-related diseases. Chronic kidney
diseases present a significant socio-economic and psychological burden for family
members, especially the family caregivers. This study examined the social and economic
burdens of family caregivers of patients with end-stage renal diseases, to bring to limelight
the burden experienced by caregivers for possible interventions and the needed support. A
mixed research method was adopted for the study. Data was collected using the modified
Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and in-depth interviews from all 21 consecutive family
caregivers. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS 23.0 for the quantitative data and thematic
analysis for the IDIs. Results show that respondents suffer a huge socio-economic burden
ranging from loss of social life (85.7%) to financial hardship (85.7%). Overall, respondents
rate their burden as between moderate to severe range in caring for their sick ones. It is
concluded that that caregivers of patients with end-stage renal disease experience a variety
of socio-economic burdens in their caring roles, that require support (socially and
economically). It is recommended that caregivers be better prepared psychosocially to
enable them to cope effectively with the caring role. Health insurance coverage should be
made available to cover more cost of managing people with end-stage renal disease to
relieve the burden on the caregivers.