Burden in primary caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis: Their relationship with depression and anxiety

INTRODUCTION: The caregiver burden is a multidimensional answer in which some stress factors are related to the experience of care. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of the role of overload with anxiety and depression in the primary caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis. METHODS: An observational and analytical study was performed that included 35 caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis. The scales Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, Inventory of Situations and Responses of Anxiety (ISRA-B) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used. RESULTS: The burden in primary caregivers showed mild and intense levels and significantly related to depression levels, specifically with the following components: mood, guilt, irritability, inability to work, sleep disorders, fatigue and loss of appetite. Burden in caregivers is further associated with anxiety trait, which especially showed a positive correlation with the ISRA-B subscale of cognitive and motor functioning. It was determined as different situations involving caregivers fear to be evaluated, to make decisions or responsibilities generating greater anxiogenic reactions. Other situations that generated anxiety were related to dailyliving activities. CONCLUSIONS: Though non-depressive states were identified, a positive relationship between the caregiver burden with depression was also corroborated. The burden that caregivers may present was associated to evaluation situations and everyday situations generating anxiogenic reactions and anxiety trait.