Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life of Cardiovascular Patient Caregivers in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Nigeria

Abstract

Patients with Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) frequently suffer from physical and psychological complications, while providing informal care for patients is a difficult and time-consuming task that necessitates time, dedication, and perseverance. Contemporary studies addressing health quality of life in relation to CVDs have traditionally focused on the individual who has the illness or condition rather than that of the caregivers. The study addresses this limitation, with a view of providing empirical evidences of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) of CVDs patient caregivers in the study area. The outcome variable was HQRL and the independent variable was psychological distress. The HQRL was captured as psychological physical functioning, mental functioning, dimension support and physical outlook. The study employed both descriptive survey and the experimental designs. The study was a hospital-based cross sectional approach. The study adopted a multi-stage sampling technique, and it sampled quantitative data from eighty-four (n=84) CVDs patient caregivers in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Statistical analysis of data was performed using the IBM SPSS version 25, with the level of significance put at .05. Results of the descriptive analysis showed that 40.5% (n=34) of the caregivers had severe /poor level of HRQL. Results of the regression analysis showed that psychological physical functioning (β = 0.31, t=2.10 p<.05), mental functioning (β = 0.30, t=211 p<.05) and dimension support (β = 0.35, t=2.15 p<.05) were significantly associated with psychological distress. The study concluded that psychological distress had a significant predictive role on HRQL among CVDs patient caregivers.