Burden, depression and familism in Colombian informal caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and patients with dementia

The goal of this study was to compare the burden and depression levels, as well as the relationships between these variables and two factors of familism (“familial obligations” and “expected support from the family”), among Colombian caregivers of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and caregivers of people diagnosed of dementia. We evaluated 70 informal caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and 63 informal caregivers of patients with dementia in the variables of burden, depression and familism. Significant differences were found in the level of burden among caregivers of people with schizophrenia and caregivers of people with dementia, with the level of burden in dementia being higher. In addition, both groups reported depressive symptoms. The results revealed a positive correlation between the factor of “family obligation” and the burden and depression in the case of caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, unlike the sample of caregivers of people with dementia where no such correlation was found. These results underscore the need to evaluate the role of mediating variables between familism, burden and depression in both groups of caregivers.