Burden change of caregivers of locked patients with psychoses after unlocking and treatment

Objective:To compare the burden of the caregivers of locked patients with psychoses before and after enrolling in the unlocking and treatment program.Methods:Totally 266 patients with psychoses and their caregivers were investigated with the self-made questionnaire.All the patients were unlocked and provided with anti-psychotic treatment under the National Continuing Management and Intervention Program for Psychoses(686 Program).Pre-post tests were conducted in terms of caregivers' time spent in taking care of the patients other than in working,the opportunity cost of the affected families for taking care of the patients,caregivers' subjective estimate of the psychological stress and economic burden,as well as the economic status of the affected families.Results:After enrolling in the unlocking and treatment program,caregivers spent smaller amount of time in taking care of each patient [(62.2±35.1)% vs.(30.2±28.0)%,P0.001],the opportunity cost of the affected families for taking care of the patients reduced significantly [urban area(8771.4±4079.3) yuan vs.(5103.4±3899.6) yuan,P0.001;rural area(2827.1±1688.5) yuan vs.(1342.5±1346.7) yuan,P0.001],the caregivers experienced less psychological stress [(8.9±1.4) vs.(4.5±1.7),P0.001] and economic burden [(9.2±1.7) vs.(4.9±2.1),P0.001].Conclusion:The burden of caregivers of patients with psychoses may be alleviated much after enrolling in the unlocking and treatment program,and the program shows its social and economic significance.