Burden of mental illness on family members, care-givers and the community.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the burden of mental illness in the family/caregiver and the community.


METHODS
A cross-sectional descriptive study.


METHODS
Rehabilitation centres, community day centres, resettlement villages and in the community in three provinces (Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo), Zimbabwe.


METHODS
A sample size comprising sixty six care-givers and 126 patients were consecutively interviewed for the study.


RESULTS
The care-givers had a mean +/- s.d. age of 48.8 +/- 15.7 years. The majority were females (80.3%), married males, 76.9% (p=0.073), unemployed females, 94.3% (p=0.0004) and parents of the patients accounted for 51.5%. Many respondents believed that the cause of mental illness was witchcraft (31%), they experienced financial constraints (63.6%), and spent a lot of money on food (56.1%). Patients were younger than their caregivers, with a mean +/- s.d. age of 37.7 +/- 12.8 years and mostly on medications (91.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
The caregivers were mainly women and unemployed, whereas patients were mostly male. Caregivers were faced with multiple problems, but they were more tolerant to patients' behaviour than the community at large.
Nyati
Z
Z
Blair Research Institute, P.O Box CY 573, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Sebit
M B
MB
D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018599:Witchcraft; D015030:Zimbabwe