Caregiving Appraisal by Family Caregivers of Stroke Survivors in Nigeria

Introduction: Attending to caregiving experiences of family caregivers of stroke survivors is important in person-centered stroke rehabilitation. This study explored caregiving appraisals by family caregivers of stroke survivors in Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of family caregivers’ negative and positive appraisals of caregiving was conducted using the 24-item 4-domain revised Caregiving Appraisal Scale (rCAS). Mann Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to identify differences in caregiving appraisals based on specific caregiver and stroke survivor variables. Results: Seventy-three caregiver and care recipient dyads participated in the study. Mean age of the caregivers was 31.51 (9.82) years. From a score of 5, and higher scores depicting higher appraisal, mean (SD) score for caregiving satisfaction and caregiving mastery (positive appraisal domains) was 4.23 (0.97) and 4.04 (0.92) respectively while 2.29 (0.98) and 2.11 (0.93) were respectively recorded for caregiving burden and environmental impact (negative appraisal). Caregivers’ gender, age, and employment status resulted in significantly different appraisals with female caregivers having higher caregiving mastery (U = 446, P<0.05), caregiving satisfaction (U = 384.5, P<0.01), and also caregiving burden (U = 382.5, P<0.01) compared to their male counterparts; while older (U = 330; P<0.05) and employed (U = 437.5, P<0.05) family caregivers reported higher caregiving satisfaction and burden respectively than younger and unemployed family caregivers. Conclusion: Given the comparatively higher positive caregiving appraisal, and the documented benefits of positive caregiving appraisal, efforts should be geared towards identifying effective means of reinforcing positive appraisal, and reducing negative stroke caregiving appraisal, especially for female, older and employed family caregivers.