Comparison of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Quality of Life among Primary Caregivers of Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Family caregivers often experience significant stress due to their multiple roles in caring for persons with mental illness. They experience a decline in quality, exacerbated by the prolonged and severe nature of the illness. Material and methods: The study aimed to assess and compare the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life among caregivers of OCD and Schizophrenia patients, and the impact of illness severity on these parameters. It included 50 consecutive OCD and schizophrenia patients and their primary caregivers. Data were collected using the sociodemographic Performa, Y-BOCS, PANSS, DASS-21 scale, and WHOQoL-Bref. The collected data will be analyzed using standard statistical methods. Results: This study found that caregivers of schizophrenia patients had a depression score of 23.84±5.68, an anxiety score of 10.60±3.70, and a stress score of 22.12±5.84. In contrast, caregivers of OCD patients had a depression score of 12.76±5.92, an anxiety score of 20.48±8.36, and a stress score of 16.24±8.12. Conclusion: Caregivers of schizophrenia patients experience higher depression, stress, and lower health satisfaction compared to caregivers of OCD patients, who mainly report anxiety. For OCD caregivers, these mental health issues worsen with illness severity, affecting their quality of life, particularly in physical health. Those caring for schizophrenia patients with positive symptoms face greater mental health challenges and a significantly poorer quality of life than those caring for patients with negative symptoms.