Stress and satisfaction of family members and independent living skills of psychiatric outpatients

ABSTRACT

BaACKGROUND. There are several parameters that must be included in the evaluation psychosocial rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES. To describe and correlate the degree of stress of family members who live with schizophrenic and bipolar disorder patients, their satisfaction with mental health services and the level of daily living skills of the patient. METHOD. Cross-sectional and correlational study, from 2012 to 2013, with a sample of 100 caregivers. The Family Satisfaction with Mental Health Services Rating Scale (SATIS-BR), the Independent Living Skills Survey (ILSS-BR), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.21, with the Mann-Whitney test, Jonckheere-Terpstra test, and Pearson's, Spearman's and Partial correlations, and a significance level α = 0.05. RESULTS. The score for the SATIS-BR scale was 4.28, 1.59 for the ILSS, and 7.39 for the GHQ-12. The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient between the SATIS-BR and ILSS was r = -0.27, and r = -0.23 between the GHQ-12 and SATIS-BR. The Spearman's correlation coefficient between Education and the GHQ-12 was r = -0.24 and there was a negative linear trend between stress and the level of education (JT = -2.54, p < 001). DISCUSSION. The caregivers presented a very high level of psychological distress, therefore, it is critical that mental health services perform more effective psychosocial rehabilitation actions.