Correlation of Caregiver Burden and Baseline Characteristics of Caregivers and Patients in Their Care with Recent-Onset Psychosis: The FIRST Study

This poster was presented at the 30th annual  Psych Congress, held Sept. 16-19, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Background: Approximately 8.4 million caregivers in the US provide support to adults with serious mental illness. Recurrent symptomatology causes significant caregiver burden that is a barrier to effective caregiving. We analyzed demographic and baseline characteristics of caregivers and patients with recent-onset schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or schizoaffective disorder enrolled in the FIRST study (NCT02600741).

Methods: FIRST, a 12-month, randomized, prospective study evaluates effect of caregiver-directed psychosocial intervention on outcomes in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or schizoaffective disorder. Patient assessments were CGI-S (symptom severity) and illness management and recovery (IMR). Caregiver assessments were IEQ (caregiver burden) and SF-12 (general health). Current analysis is based on baseline data from 85 patient-caregiver pairs.

Results: Patients were predominantly male (75.3%). Mean age was 25.6; 58.8% were white, 35.3% black, and 9.6% Hispanic. 88.2% lived at home with family or friends. Caregiver mean age was 52.1 years, predominantly female (76.5%), and mostly parents (85.9%). There was significant correlation between the IEQ total score and patients' CGI-S score at baseline (r = 0.273; P=0.0151). A significant negative correlation between caregivers' IEQ total scores and patients' IMR scores at baseline suggests lower caregiver burden associated with patient's higher functional status (r = -0.290; P=0.0091). Significant negative correlation between caregivers' IEQ total scores and SF-12 MCS scores suggests lower burden is associated with better vitality, mental health, and role and social functioning (r = -0.295; P=0.0079).

Conclusion: Interim analysis of baseline data showed that greater severity of patient illness may contribute to higher caregiver burden.