CAREGIVING BURDEN OF CAREGIVERS OF HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS AND RELATED FACTORS

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the caregiving burden of caregivers of patients receiving Hemodialysis (HD) treatment.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 107 caregivers of patients receiving HD treatment at State Hospital and Private Dialysis Center. The entire population was intended to be reached by avoiding the use of samples. The universe has been explored to an extent of 89%. Between 1 June and 1 July 2022, the researchers visited HD centers and conducted in-person interviews to gather the data. In this study, Descriptive Information Form and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS) were used to collect data.Results: Among the patients, 39.3% were between the ages of 41-60 and 40.2% were between the ages of 61-80. 85.7% of caregivers were 60 years old or younger. 75.7% of caregivers were women. The mean caregiving burden score of the participants was 47.53 +/- 13.87. Patient education level and care burden were significant (p= .034). Caregivers of university-graduated patients had a lower care burden. The degree of caregiver burden was found to vary greatly depending on the caregiver's age, marital status, occupation, and closeness to the patient. The caregiving burden of caregivers in the 20-30 age group was lower than those in the 60 and over age group (p= .007). Married caregivers had a higher caregiving burden than single caregivers (p<0.001). The caregiving burden of the students was lower than the others (p<0.001).Conclusion: It was determined that the caregivers had a moderate level of caregiving burden.