Abstract
Caregiving has evolved as an important issue not only for those receiving care, but for those providing it as well. While caregiving allows those with disabilities to better adapt, it has been shown to take a toll on the caregiver on various levels, such as invoking depression and burden. The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature pertaining to depression and burden among caregivers of patients with visual impairment. A comprehensive literature search using multiple databases was conducted to include all articles on burden of care or depression among the caregivers of the visually impaired. Nine studies were included in this review. There was demonstrable association of depression and burden with the caregivers of the visually impaired. Communication theory, emotional contagion, and care burden were cited as factors associated with depression in these studies. A number of other elements were also identified to play a role in depression and burden, such as providing greater hours of supervision to the patient, multiple chronic conditions in the patient or caregiver, patient not completing vision rehabilitation, and female gender of the caregiver. By identifying those at risk for decreased quality of life outcomes, health care providers may be able to alter the management of the visually impaired, such as advocating the use of vision rehabilitation clinics in order to minimize the caregiver burden and depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Talley RC, Crews J, Dorn P, Silvernail J, Hunt G, Zeitzer J (2004) Caregiving in America as an emerging public health issue: surveillance and response by the nation’s public health system. In: Second national center on birth defects and developmental disabilities conference
Levine C, Reinhard S, Feinberg LF, Albert S, Hart A (2003) Family caregivers on the job: moving beyond ADLs and IADLs. Generations 27:17–23
Perkins M, Howard VJ, Wadley VG, Crowe M, Safford MM, Haley WE, Howard G, Roth DL (2013) Caregiving strain and all-cause mortality: evidence from the REGARDS study. J Gerontolol Ser B 68:504–512
Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) (2011) Reasons for not seeking eye care among adults aged ≥40 years with moderate-to-severe visual impairment-21 States, 2006–2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 60:610
Zarit SH, Reever KE, Bach-Peterson J (1980) Relatives of the impaired elderly: correlates of feelings of burden. Gerontologist 20:649–655
Vitaliano PP, Zhang J, Scanlan JM (2003) Is caregiving hazardous to one’s physical health? A meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 129:946
Schulz R, Mendelsohn AB, Haley WE, Mahoney D, Allen RS, Zhang S, Thompson L, Belle SH (2003) End-of-life care and the effects of bereavement on family caregivers of persons with dementia. N Engl J Med 349:1936–1942
Gutiérrez-Maldonado J, Caqueo-Urízar A, Kavanagh DJ (2005) Burden of care and general health in families of patients with schizophrenia. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:899–904
Fadden G, Bebbington P, Kuipers L (1987) The burden of care: the impact of functional psychiatric illness on the patient’s family. Br J Psychiatry 150:285–292
Whetten-Goldstein K, Sloan F, Kulas E, Cutson T, Schenkman M (1997) The burden of Parkinson’s disease on society, family, and the individual. J Am Geriatr Soc 45:844–849
Vitaliano PP, Russo J, Young HM, Teri L, Maiuro RD (1991) Predictors of burden in spouse caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Psychol Aging 6:392
Miyashita M, Narita Y, Sakamoto A, Kawada N, Akiyama M, Kayama M, Suzukamo Y, Fukuhara S (2009) Care burden and depression in caregivers caring for patients with intractable neurological diseases at home in Japan. J Neurol Sci 276:148–152
Robinson BC (1983) Validation of a caregiver strain index. J Gerontol 38:344–348
Novak M, Guest C (1989) Application of a multidimensional caregiver burden inventory. Gerontologist 29:798–803
Given CW, Given B, Stommel M, Collins C, King S, Franklin S (1992) The caregiver reaction assessment (CRA) for caregivers to persons with chronic physical and mental impairments. Res Nurs Health 15:271–283
Weitzner MA, Jacobsen PB, Wagner H Jr, Friedland J, Cox C (1999) The Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC) scale: development and validation of an instrument to measure quality of life of the family caregiver of patients with cancer. Qual Life Res 8:55–63
Miyashita M, Yamaguchi A, Kayama M, Narita Y, Kawada N, Akiyama M, Hagiwara A, Suzukamo Y, Fukuhara S (2006) Validation of the Burden Index of Caregivers (BIC), a multidimensional short care burden scale from Japan. Health Qual Life Out 4:1
Bernbaum M, Albert SG, Duckro PN, Merkel W (1993) Personal and family stress in individuals with diabetes and vision loss. J Clin Psychol 49:670–677
Goodman CR, Shippy RA (2002) Is it contagious? Affect similarity among spouses. Aging Mental Health 6:266–274
Lawton MP, Kleban MH, Moss M, Rovine M, Glicksman A (1989) Measuring caregiving appraisal. J Gerontol 44:61–71
Horowitz A, Goodman CR, Reinhardt JP (2004) Congruence between disabled elders and their primary caregivers. Gerontologist 44:532–542
Strawbridge WJ, Wallhagen MI, Shema SJ (2007) Impact of spouse vision impairment on partner health and well-being: a longitudinal analysis of couples. J Gerontol Ser B 62:S315–S322
Bambara JK, Owsley C, Wadley V, Martin R, Porter C, Dreer LE (2009) Family caregiver social problem-solving abilities and adjustment to caring for a relative with vision loss. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 50:1585–1592
Westaway L, Wittich W, Overbury O (2011) Depression and burden in spouses of individuals with sensory impairment. Insight: Res Pract Vis Impair Blind 4(1):29–36
Braich PS, Lal V, Hollands S, Almeida DR (2012) Burden and depression in the caregivers of blind patients in India. Ophthalmology 119:221–226
Khan Z, Braich P, Rahim K, Rayat J, Xing L, Iqbal M et al (2016) Burden and depression among caregivers of visually impaired patients in a Canadian population. Adv Med 2016:1–8
Braich P, Jackson M, Knohl S, Bhoiwala D, Gandham S, Almeida D (2016) Burden and depression in caregivers of blind patients in New York state. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 23(3):1–9
Cimarolli VR, Boerner K (2005) Social support and well-being in adults who are visually impaired. J Vis Impair Blind 99:521
Bambara JK, Wadley V, Owsley C, Martin RC, Porter C, Dreer LE (2009) Family functioning and low vision: a systematic review. J Visual Impair Blind 103:137
Zarit SH, Femia EE, Whitlatch CJ (2015) The importance of caregiving and caregiver mental health. In: Encyclopedia of mental health, p 233
Hinrichsen GA, Hernandez NA (1993) Factors associated with recovery from and relapse into major depressive disorder in the elderly. American J Psychiatry 50:1820
Pinquart M, Sörensen S (2006) Gender differences in caregiver stressors, social resources, and health: an updated meta-analysis. J Gerontol Ser B 61:33–45
Braich PS, Howard MK, Singh JS (2015) Dyslipidemia and its association with meibomian gland dysfunction. Int Ophthalmol 36(4):469–476
Braich PS, Almeida DR, Hollands S, Coleman MT (2011) Effects of pictograms in educating 3 distinct low-literacy populations on the use of postoperative cataract medication. Can J Ophthalmol 46(3):276–281
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
None of the authors have any proprietary interests or conflicts of interest related to this submission.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuriakose, R.K., Khan, Z., Almeida, D.R.P. et al. Depression and burden among the caregivers of visually impaired patients: a systematic review. Int Ophthalmol 37, 767–777 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-016-0296-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-016-0296-2