Factors associated with social support for family members who care for stroke survivors

Abstract

<abstract><sec> <title>Introduction</title> <p>Vascular strokes are a primary cause of long-term disability for adults, with many social consequences for the patient, the family and healthcare systems worldwide.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Aim</title> <p>To investigate the relation between patients' and caregivers' characteristics, as well as burden and depression, and the social support received by carers for stroke victims in Greece.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Method</title> <p>Patients and caregivers were recruited from community settings in the Attica region of Greece, using purposive sampling. They completed a set of questionnaires during face-to-face interviews. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with caregivers' perceptions of social support.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>In total, 109 dyads of patients and their respective caregivers were recruited. The patients' mean age was 69.3 years, while caregivers' mean age was 58.0 years; 51.4% of patients were males, whereas 67.9% of the caregivers were females. The majority of both patients and caregivers were married, with an annual family income less than €10,000. The level of perceived social support was significantly associated with patients' or caregivers' annual family income, caregivers' working status and the daily caring hours (p &lt; 0.01). Greater perceived support was significantly associated with a lower care burden BCOS (r = 0.29, p &lt; 0.01) and female gender (p = 0.023), but not with the patient's functional level nor with depression (p &gt; 0.05).</p> </sec></abstract>