February 2020

The 2016 WHO statistics show that the African region still bore the highest burden of care reporting 587 Disability Adjustable Life Years (DALYs) per 1000 population. The burden of caring for individuals with mental illness is high globally, more so when there is no commensurate social support for the caregivers. There is a crevice of literature from Nigerian studies on the link between burden of care, social support and psychopathological symptoms. This study observed the influence of burden of care and social support on psychopathological symptoms among caregivers of children living with psychological disorders using Yaba Neuropsychiatric hospital Lagos Nigeria. A total of 309 participants (mean age = 41.2 years) were purposively selected during clinic appointment days and responded to Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Multidimensional Scale of Social Support (MSPSS) and Awaritefe Psychological Index (API Form X). Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that Burden of care and social support were significant joint predictors of Insomnia (R²=.058, p= .000),intellect disorder (R²=.020, p= . 048), heat disorder (R²=.028, p= . 017), mood disorder (R²=.148, p= . 000), head region disorder (R²=.103, p= .000), general somatic disorder (R²=.051, p= . 000) and general psychopathology (R²=.115, p= . 000). Burden of care and social support had significant independent predictions on insomnia, mood disorder, general somatic disorder and general psychopathology while only burden of care significantly predicted heat disorder, and head region disorder among the caregivers.

The purpose of this study was to determine the best fit model of ways of coping of detainees’ spouses. Specifically, it explored the interrelationship among variables including level of social support, psychological well-being and distress tolerance on ways of coping on detainees’ spouses. This study utilized quantitative research design and structural equation modeling. Data were sourced from 400 detainees’ spouses in Misamis Occidental Region X. The questionnaire was divided into four sections including social support, psychological well-being, distress tolerance and ways of coping. Results showed that the level of social support of the respondents are very high, high for psychological well-being and high for distress tolerance. High level was also resulted for ways of coping of detainees’ spouses. Moreover, results showed that the relationships between social support, psychological well-being and distress tolerance to ways of coping of detainees’ spouses are all significant. This means that an increase in the level of psychological well-being is an increase in the level of social support and also an increase in the level of ways of coping of spouses’ detainees. Furthermore, an increase in the level of psychological well-being is an increase in the level of distress tolerance and an increase in the level of ways of coping of the respondents. Conclusive statement drawn include that the very high level of social support, high levels of psychological well-being and distress tolerance and ways of coping of detainees’ spouses are significantly related.

Background: Quality of Life assessment is considered to be as an important parameter for assessment of disease related outcome especially in context with chronic diseases like diabetes, which might have a negative impact on general wellbeing. In this study we have measured the QOL of patients suffering from type 2 diabetes by using WHOQOL-BREF score and also tried to assess the correlation of QOL with various demographic and laboratory parameters. Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted after the approval from IECby the department of internal medicine of Nayati Healthcare and Research center, Mathura, India. A total of 100 type 2 diabetic participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. For this study purpose we have used WHOQOL – BREF Questionnaire available in English and was being translated into Hindi by linguistic experts. This questionnaire was validated by conducting a pilot study over 30 patients. The cronbach-alpha for determining the internal consistency of the questionnaire was 0.89 suggesting high level of reliability. Results: Out of 100 type 2 diabetics, 71% were males. The mean age was 52.7 ±10.6. 97% participants were married. 68% were from urban area and 61% had the family income of Rs<50,000 per month. Total 66% were coming in either obese or overweight category. The average transformed scores calculated by the equation for computing domains scores was found to be 65.33; 63.58; 70; 67.69 for domain 1,2,3,4 respectively. Age is found to have statistically significant correlation (p value<.028)) with domain 4 and income status showed statistically significant correlation (p value <0.05) with Domain 2. Conclusion: QOL is an important parameter and should always be taken into consideration while managing type 2 diabetics. There are various demographic, laboratory, disease related and life-style related parameters which can affect QOL. Comprehensive care of diabetics including assessment of QOL and modifying treatments accordingly may improve the overall quality care of these patients.