Effect of caregivers’ expressed emotion on the care burden and rehospitalization rate of schizophrenia

摘要

Background: This study assessed the effect of expressed emotion (EE) among caregivers of schizophrenia patients on their care burden and the illness rehospitalization rate. Subjects and methods: A total of 64 schizophrenia patients hospitalized for the first time and their key caregivers were recruited. The Chinese version of the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI-CV) was used to evaluate the EE of the key caregivers. A family burden questionnaire was used to evaluate the care burden. The patients’ rehospitalization rate and medication compliance were evaluated by the self-designated criteria. The data collection was carried out at the first meeting in the hospital, at 6 months and 12 months after hospital discharge by using the same instruments. Results: The subjective stress burden and subjective demand burden scores were higher in caregivers before and after discharge with statistical difference between the various observation time points ( P <0.05). Significant differences were observed in the rehospitalization rate between patients with high medication adherence and low medication adherence at 12?months ( P <0.01) and between patients with high expressed emotion (HEE) and low expressed emotion (LEE; P <0.05). The rehospitalization rate in patients with HEE caregivers was higher than that in those with LEE caregivers. The subjective stress burden scores were statistically significant between HEE and LEE caregivers ( P <0.05). Conclusion: HEE is a predictor of rehospitalization rate in schizophrenic patients. The burdens of care scores are high in caregivers of schizophrenic patients. The caregivers with HEE have a high score in burden of care compared with those with LEE.