Depression and Psychological Burden in a Sample of Caregivers of Children with Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

any chronic patients suffer, during the treatment of their diseases and its consequences, from a burden and a psychological effect that affects them as well as their families (Belasco & Sesso, 2002). Chronic diseases change family dynamics. They increase the burden on family members and also stress level especially for the primary caregiver. This might also affect family relationships. Besides, having a chronic disease increases children’s dependency on parents and caregivers. As a consequence, caregivers, who are usually mothers, tend to face novel problems related to the care for a chronically ill child (Watson et al., 2013). CKD, ESRD and its exacerbations create burden for the patient as well as their caregivers who are usually not enough prepared to carry this new role which makes them suffer from the negative effects as anxiety, depression and stress impacting their own health (Tang et al., 2012). There isn’t enough research on caregivers. And owing to recent advances in the area of dialysis treatment and other medical procedures, children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significantly longer survival rate. However, despite being provided with an increasingly effective treatment,