Al-Hikmah University Journal

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.