Background

Informal caregivers are those who care for children without getting paid. They are often more prone to stress due to their extra daily tasks which leads to burnout. This study aimed to determine the frequency and associated risk factors of burnout among informal caregivers of children with disabilities in Karachi.

Methodology

A cross-sectional study was done in 10 rehabilitation institutes of Karachi with 310 mothers of children with disabilities from infancy till 18 years of age in 2019. Pretested questionnaire was administered to collect data in which 31 mothers were interviewed through convenience sampling from each rehabilitation institute. To assess burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used. Association of different variables of study participants with the scores of its three sub dimensions, Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP) and Personal Accomplishment (PA) were analyzed using linear regression modeling.

Results

Mean EE score was high in 6.5% of the mothers while PA scores were low in 58.7% of the mothers. High EE with low PA (defined by our team as ‘burnout’) was found in 4.2% of the mothers, with none of them reporting high levels of DP. Linear regression analysis significantly predicted higher EE scores of mothers with more than one disabled child while lower EE scores were significantly predicted in highly educated mothers and mothers who spent more time in caregiving. Higher PA scores were also significantly predicted for highly educated mothers. DP scores were significantly predicted to be higher in mothers who had highly educated husband/guardian, employed mothers and those living in joint families whereas they were significantly predicted to be lower in highly educated mothers.

Conclusion

We have identified that mothers who are less educated, have more than one child with disability and who live in joint families will need extra support and input to prevent burnout.