Caregiver burden in chronic mental illness: a systematic review

Objectives: This systematic review analyzes caregiver burden in chronic mental illness and the factors associated with it. Methods:The study was conducted by checking the Turkish Psychiatry Index, the Turkish Medical Index, the Turkish Medline, the National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center and the PubMed databases.The database research was performed in English and Turkish using keywords and synonyms for them.Twenty-three studies were included in this study. Results:The majority of the studies included in the review were descriptive and studied schizophrenic patients' caregivers.They used a variety of measurement instruments.It was found that the burden perception of caregivers was moderate to severe and was influenced by different variables. Conclusion:Experimental studies are insufficient to determine the burden of caregivers in Turkey, so experimental and qualitative studies should be conducted with different specific samples.