Caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis: care burden, social support and quality of life

The burden of care, social support and quality of life in relation to the characteristics of family caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis are described. Observational study with a convenience sample with 41 family caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis. Care burden was assessed with the Zarit caregiver burden scale, social support with the MOS, and quality of life with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Data analysis was performed with descriptive and non-parametric statistics. It was found that 70.7% of caregivers were women, 80.5% married, 41.5% with university studies, 58.5% working, most with low income. The main care activities were accompaniment (95.1%) and emotional support (75.6%). 82.6% with no burden of care, 80.5% received support for care with a median (Md) of 79 and quartile deviation (Dc) of 11 in the MOS and good quality of life. It is concluded that family caregivers, for the most part, are without care overload, have social support and good quality of life, probably due to favorable socioeconomic characteristics, motivation of love for care and conditions of the family member with recurrent MS and low disability.