title: The humanistic and economic burden of providing care for a patient with schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder that often requires the affected individual to receive part- or full-time care from a caregiver.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the humanistic and economic burden of caring for an individual with Schizophrenia with regard to the measures of quality of life (QoL), work productivity, healthcare resource use and estimated economic costs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data for this study came from the 2012 US National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS; n = 71,149). Specifically, this analysis focused on those individuals in the survey who indicated that they were currently the primary caregiver for an individual with Schizophrenia (C-SCZ; n = 174). These individuals were matched via two separate 1:2 propensity score matches with both caregivers of other disorders (C-Other; n = 294) and non-caregivers (Non-C; n = 294) on significant covariates. Individuals were then compared across the outcomes of QoL, work productivity, healthcare resource use and estimated economic costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  C-SCZ respondents had worse outcomes on all outcomes measured than C-Other respondents and Non-C respondents even when controlling for significant differences between the groups on sociodemographic characteristics. However, due to the small sample sizes, these comparisons were only significant in most cases for the C-SCZ to Non-C comparisons.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that caregivers of those with Schizophrenia experience a heightened humanistic and economic burden, especially relative to the burden experienced by non-caregivers. The fact that Schizophrenia not only affects the individual but also those who care for that individual is underscored by these results.
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Csilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Csoboth
authors.affiliation: Kantar Health, Princeton, NJ, USA edward.witt@kantarhealth.com.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Cedric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Gorman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States
keywords: Schizophrenia; caregiver; caregiver burden; economic; health; humanistic; outcome