Information communication between suicide attempters and their family caregivers and care ability of the family caregivers / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

ABSTRACT

Objective·To investigate the information requirements of suicide attempters and their family caregivers, as well as the ability of family caregivers to take care of them. Methods·A total of 148 suspected suicide attempters from Department of Emergency of three hospitals in Shanghai and their family caregivers were enrolled in this study. Each group combined with one patient and one family caregiver. The patients and their family caregivers were interviewed by suicide module of the mini-international neuropsychiatric interview, homemade general information questionnaire, family caregiver task inventory, family adaptability and cohesion scale and information needs willingness questionnaire. Results·There were 84 cases (56.8%) of suicide attempters and 64 cases (43.2%) of non-suicide attempters according to the survey. Linear regression analysis showed that the family's ability of taking care of the patients is positively correlated with family intimacy and negatively correlated with the impact of such illness on the family (P=0.000, P=0.008).The scores of patients' information requirement about the status of disease, the treatment-related information, the way to obtain medical information, the cure probability, precautions after treatment, and self-care ability or support from family caregivers were higher than the expectation scores from their family caregivers. Equally, the scores of information requirement from the patients' family caregivers about above-mentioned information were also higher than the expectation scores from patients. Conclusion·The family care ability is related to the influence of the patients on the life of the family caregivers and family intimacy. For the patients and their family caregivers, there is a great demand for information about disease status and treatment situation, the way of seeking help, care information and so on. More information support and psychological assistance should be provided to suicide attempters and their family caregivers.