The level and factors associated with caregiver burden among parents of children with cerebral palsy: A cross-sectional study in southwest China

Abstract

Abstract Purpose This study was conducted to determine the level of care burden and its related factors in the parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Design and methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with parents of 165 children with cerebral palsy who were enrolled in children rehabilitation departments of three tertiary hospitals in Chengdu, Sichuan Province between September 2021 and December 2022. Besides demographic information, the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), the Patient Health Questionaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation and multiple linear regressions analysis). Results The mean (± SD) CBI score of the parents was 42.18 ± 18.79. The score of FSS and PHQ-9 demonstrated positive moderate to strong correlations with caregiver burden (r = 0.461, P < 0.001; r = 0.630, P < 0.001, respectively). The results of the multiple linear regressions analysis showed that a low level of education, long caring time and combined visual impairment, higher depression and fatigue had a influence on caregiver burden, and 46.4% of the variance in caregiver burden was explained by these factors. Conclusions The key predictors of caregiver burden include the level of education, caring time, children with visual impairment and the degree of depression and fatigue. Effort should be made to relieve burden in parents of children with cerebral palsy.