Abstract 13755: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventions to Support Caregivers of Patients With Heart Disease

Background: Family caregivers play an important role in the support of patients with heart disease, yet little is known about how the clinical team can best support them. We recently published the CARE model (Caregiver-centered, Active engagement, Reflection & reinforcement, Education) as a guide for the clinical team to better engage caregivers. In this current study, we aimed to determine if psychoeducational interventions designed to support caregivers of patients with heart disease led to improvements in caregiver anxiety, depression, burden, and quality of life. Methods and Results: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) written in English that evaluated outcomes of interventions to support caregivers of patients with heart disease. In our review of six databases, we identified 20 unique RCTs, representing a total of 1,570 patients and 1,776 caregivers, with 17/20 RCTs using a psychoeducational approach. The meta-analysis suggested small increases in physical QoL (Hedges’ g = 0.178, 95% CI: -0.09 to 0.45) and mental QoL (Hedges’ g = 0.22, 95% CI: -0.04 to 0.48) and small reductions in anxiety (Hedges’ g = -0.48, 95% CI: -1.08 to 0.12), as well as moderate reductions in caregiver depression (Hedges’ g = -0.64, 95% CI: -1.34 to 0.06) and caregiver burden (Hedges’ g = -0.51, 95% CI: -2.71 to 1.70); however, none of these improvements were statistically significant. Study results were limited by use of various outcome measures, variable intervention designs, and may have been insufficiently powered. Conclusion: Our study highlights the need for greater understanding of the challenges faced by caregivers of heart disease patients. Future work should focus on consistent intervention design, use established outcome measures, and be conducted in larger populations.