The relationships between depression and social support in caregivers and activities of daily living in stroke patients

Objective To find out the depression status of the major family caregiver with stroke patients,and explore the relationship among the caregivers' depression status,social support,and the daily living activities of the stroke patients.Methods Fifty one family caregivers of the stroke patients were selected based on the convenience sampling method and investigated with CESD Scale,Barthel Index and social support scale.Results 54.90% of the major family caregivers of the stroke patients experienced depression;Social support scores were at lower levels.There showed a significant negative correlation between the care.givers with depression and their social support and patient' s dailying life.Conclusions The community nurses,family members and society should show more concentration on the psychological situation of the major caregivers with stroke patients family.We should provide adequate social support and enhance the activities of daily living of the patients to decrease the incidence of depression and improve the quality of care of the caregivers and the patient simultaneously. Key words: Cerebrovascular accident;  Depression;  Social support;  Questionnaires;  Family caregiver