Caregivers’ Perceptions of Burden and Health- Promoting Behaviours among Informal Caregivers of Cancer and Stroke Patients Attending Tertiary Care Facilities in South- South Nigeria
African Journal of Biomedical Research; 24 (2), 2021
Publication year: 2021
Family caregivers’ role in cancer and stroke care is overly burdensome. Studies have considered burden and predictors of burden
but the influence of caregiving burden on health - promoting behaviours among cancer and stroke family caregivers in Nigeria
is scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of caregivers’ perceptions of burden and health-promoting
behaviours on informal caregivers of cancer/ stroke patients attending tertiary care facilities in South- South Nigeria. A
descriptive cross-sectional survey was employed among 410 purposively selected cancer/ stroke patients’ family caregivers in
tertiary care facilities, South- South Nigeria. A standardized Zarit burden interview scale and structured questionnaire were used
to measure burden and determine health-promoting behaviours respectively. Descriptive (means, standard deviation and
percentages) and inferential (ANOVA) statistics with a Fisher’s protected t- test at 0.05 level of significance were used for data
analysis. The respondents experienced severe (F= 14.02; P= 0.810) burden in caregiving to cancer/ stroke patients. The influence
of health- promoting behaviours (primary, secondary and tertiary preventions) among caregivers of cancer/ stroke is significantly
high in the tertiary care facilities, South-South, Nigeria. Caregivers of cancer and stroke patients experienced severe levels of
burden and health-promoting-behaviours in terms of prevention at the primary, secondary and tertiary activities were significantly
high among respondents. This calls for knowledge mobilization and dissemination in Nigeria and beyond.