Quality of life of caregivers of pacients in a first psychosis episode

• Grant number: 08/10635-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2009
• End date: March 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Ana Cristina Chaves
• Grantee: Ana Cristina Chaves
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study aims to measure the quality of life and psychiatric morbidity of family caregivers of patients in first episode psychosis (FEP). The emergence of any serious mental disorder destabilizes the family dynamics acutely, generating demands and stresses caused by the difficulty of understanding what is taking place and of how to seek help. Psychiatric Reform and the resulting progressive reduction of hospital beds have rendered families the principal caregivers of patients suffering from serious mental disorders. However, studies about the families of such patients are scarce in Brazil. This is a transversal study that simultaneously evaluates families and patients in first-episode psychosis by means of standard psychiatric instruments. The study will be conducted according to the following procedure: 1) Approval from the Ethics Committee of UNIFESP. Obtained. 2) Procurement of a "Research Grant" from FAPESP. 3) Standardization of the process of translation / adaptation of a scale validated in a foreign language and recommendations to obtain semantic, idiomatic, experimental and conceptual equivalents through the use of reverse translation, review committee, pretesting and reexamination techniques of the weight / value of the scores. 4) Training of researchers in the scales used in this study. 5) Recruitment of FEP patients who meet the criteria of this study. 6) Application to the patient of the SCID I and PANNS - Detection scales of psychiatric symptoms and of the gravity of negative and positive syndromes, in order to assess the psychopathological presentation of the disorder in the patient in question by a qualified researcher. This step confirms the psychotic picture, the confirmation of whether it is in fact a first episode, and the seriousness of the picture. 7) Recruitment of the principal caregivers of the FEP patients. 8) Procurement of the Free and Informed Consent of such caregivers, by means of an interview conducted so that the Consent Form is fully understood and the methods, foreseen benefits and potential discomforts are explained. 9) Procurement of comprehensive sociodemographic and economic information and application of the SF-36, SQR-20, and SCID II questionnaires and the test version of the ECI to the caregivers by qualified researchers. Upon conclusion of the entire interview process, a last open question will be posed: "Considering the tests you have undergone and the questions you have been asked, what do you think we are researching?". 10) After a six-month interval, repeat the application of the SCID I and PANNS interviews to the patients and the SF-36, SQR-20, and SCID II questionnaires and the test version of the ECI to the caregivers, for the follow-up study. 11) Statistical treatment of the data. The internal consistency of the Brazilian version of the ECI will be tested. Pearson's statistical chi-square test will be used to ascertain the associations among qualitative variables, and Student's t-test will be applied to compare the averages among the groups. To control the confusers, a statistical test of logistic regression will be used. A 5% level of significance will be adopted in all the statistical procedures. The software programs to be employed have not yet been defined. 12) Testing of the hypothesis based on the data obtained. 13) Conclusions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RITA DE C. JORGE; HUGO COGO-MOREIRA; ARY G. ARARIPE NETO; ANA C. CHAVES. Psychological morbidity is the main predictor of quality of life among caregivers of individuals in first-episode psychosis: data from a year-long longitudinal study in Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, v. 41, n. 5, p. 403-410, 2019-02-18. (08/10635-5)

FERREIRA DE ARAUJO JORGE, RITA DE CASSIA; CHAVES, ANA CRISTINA. The Experience of Caregiving Inventory for first-episode psychosis caregivers: Validation of the Brazilian version. SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH, v. 138, n. 2-3, p. 274-279, JUL 2012. (08/10635-5)