Article

OBJECTIVE: To understand and describe in a sample of caregivers of persons with
spinal cord injury, their burden of care, resilience and life satisfaction and to
explore the relationship between these variables. DESIGN:
Cross-sectional design.
SETTING: One Spinal Cord Injury Acute Inpatient Unit from a general hospital.
SUBJECTS: Seventy-five relatives of persons with spinal cord injuries (84% women)
with a mean age of 48.55 (SD = 12.55) years. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASURES:
Demographics (neurological loss and severity according to the American Spinal
Injury Association criteria), the Zarit Burden Interview, the Resilience Scale
and the Life Satisfaction Checklist. RESULTS: All caregivers experienced feelings
of different intensities of burden (52% mild-to-moderate, 43% moderate-to-severe
and 5% severe), and none of them expressed little or no burden at the assessment
moment. Caregivers' main worries were "dependence" and "the future of the
injured." Resilience was medium-to-high (mean = 141.93, SD = 23.44) for the whole
sample with just a minority of them revealing low (15%) or very low resilience
(7%). The highest scores were obtained in relation to "caregivers' independence"
and "meaning of their lives." Life satisfaction scores were medium-to-high (mean
= 36.6, SD = 6). These scores were not related to demographics or the severity of
the injury. Zarit Burden Interview scores were negatively correlated to Resilience Scale ( r = -.370,
P = .001) and Life Satisfaction Checklist scores ( r = -.412,
P < .001). CONCLUSION: More resilient and satisfied caregivers
experienced lower burden. Burden is moderate-to-high and mainly related to
uncertainty about the future, caregivers' insecurity with caregiving and
dependence of the injured.

Langue : ANGLAIS