Clinical trial NCT05089552: Quality of Life of Caregivers of Addicts
Official title: Psychiatric Assessment and Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Addicts
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Addiction
Lead sponsor: Assiut University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-10-22
Enrollment: 160
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Family caregivers of addicts who come to an addiction clinic and unit of neuropsychiatry hospital of assiut university hospital

Brief summary: American Society of Addiction Medicine defined Addiction as a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual's life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.

Addiction is considered as a "family disease." Addiction affects the individual as well as those around them in terms of occupational and social dysfunction, physical and emotional distress, and financial burden which has a serious impact on the lives of the significant others.

Detailed description: Addiction is a multifaceted problem- it negatively alters the quality of life of not only addicts but also the family members who live with them. Caregiving to an individual suffering from addiction is physically, mentally, socially and emotionally challenging. These caregivers are most burdened as the assistance they provide is multidimensional.

The Quality of Life Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) Division of Mental Health has defined QOL as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns " .

Family members are not all equally affected and they suffer in different degrees based on their closeness to the addict and distance from the addict's behavior. Most of the time, a member of the family assumes the role of caregiver, and he or she is most burdened from this process.

The Family Caregiver Alliance (2014) defines family (or informal) caregivers as "any relative, partner, friend, or neighbor who has a significant personal relationship with, and provides a broad range of assistance for, an older person or an adult with a chronic or disabling condition" .

Researchers have described addiction as one of the significant causes of family destruction and disturbed relationship.Family relationships are at risk owing to addiction and associated hazards. Researches addressing the health issues of families have reported numerous mental health problems among children and spouses of addicts. A study has depicted children of addict fathers experiencing depression, anxiety and hypomania. Children of addicts also suffered from different internalised and externalised problem in men.

However, published studies on family caregivers of addicts are limited. This study aimed to evaluate QOL and psychiatric symptoms in family caregivers of addicts.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* As defined by The Family Caregiver Alliance (2014) "any relative, partner, friend, or neighbor who has a significant personal relationship with, and provides a broad range of assistance for, an older person or an adult with a chronic or disabling condition" .
* aged ≥18 years old.
* being a family caregiver for more than three months (considered the minimum time for the caregivers to be able to feel the effects of care).
* living or residing near the drug-dependent.

Exclusion Criteria:

* who stopped living in the city
* the presence of previous psychiatric illness and caregiver who was also addicts. • Refuse to participate in the research

Primary outcomes:
measure: quality of life evaluation
timeFrame: 2 weeks
measure: psychiatric symptoms
timeFrame: 12-15 minutes
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Assiut
country: Egypt
facility: Assiut University
Study officials:
affiliation: Assiut University
name: Saleh Ahmed Mahmoud, Resident
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Assiut University
name: ALaa EL-DIN Mohamed darweesh, MD
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: Assiut University
name: Mohamed Fawzy Mohamed, AP
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Vaishnavi R, Karthik MS, Balakrishnan R, Sathianathan R. Caregiver Burden in Alcohol Dependence Syndrome. J Addict. 2017;2017:8934712. doi: 10.1155/2017/8934712. Epub 2017 May 21.
citation: The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL): position paper from the World Health Organization. Soc Sci Med. 1995 Nov;41(10):1403-9. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00112-k.
citation: Settley C. The physical and psychological wellbeing of caregivers of individuals suffering from substance addiction. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2020 Jun;34(3):107-109. doi: 10.1016/j.apnu.2020.03.007. Epub 2020 Mar 12.
citation: Rafiq M, Sadiq R. Caregiver Stress, Perceived Stigma and Mental Health in Female Family Members of Drug Addicts: Correlational Study. J Pak Med Assoc. 2019 Sep;69(9):1300-1303.