title: Burden of care and its impact on health-related quality of life of caregivers of individuals with spinal cord injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to analyze the impact and burden of care on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of caregivers of individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  cross-sectional observational study carried out by reviewing medical records and applying questionnaires. The scale Short Form 36 (SF-36) was used to assess HRQOL and the Caregiver Burden Scale (CBScale) for care burden. Results were analyzed quantitatively. Most patients with SCIs were male, aged 35.4 years old on average, with a predominance of thoracic injuries followed by cervical injuries. Most caregivers were female aged 44.8 years old on average.
  
  
  RESULTS
  tetraplegia and secondary complications stand out among the clinical characteristics that contributed to greater care burden and worse HRQOL. Association between care burden with HRQOL revealed that the greater the burden the worse the HRQOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preventing care burden through strategies that prepare patients for hospital discharge, integrating the support network, and enabling access to health care services are interventions that could minimize the effects arising from care burden and contribute to improving HRQOL.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula Cristina
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.forename: Soraia Assad Nasbine
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rabeh
authors.forename: Maria Helena Larcher
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Caliri
authors.forename: Rosana Aparecida Spadoti
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.forename: Vanderlei José
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000451:nursing; D055815:Young Adult