Publication:

Psychological, socioeconomic burdens and coping mechanisms of caregivers of children with bronchoasthma in Kakamega County, Kenya

Background Childhood bronchoasthma consistently pose diverse caregiving burdens yet, magnitude of these and coping mechanisms adopted by caregivers are infrequently assessed during routine care only focused on index patients.

Methods A partially mixed descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted for a minimum of 408 respondents. The results were presented in form of tables and text.

Results A total of 408 caregivers were surveyed, with a mean age of 33 years (SD=9.86). Majority (78.7%) were actual parents of whom 73.5% were married. Primary-level education was the highest attained by 64% of caregivers while those earning <10,000 KES per month were 76% with about 3 out 4 being self-employed. Significant psychological concerns include sleep disturbance on the night previous to the interview, caregivers’ concern about the child's asthma medication and side effects. Work absenteeism; reduced total annual income; lost job; discontinued child schooling and delayed family investment/cut budgets were significant social/economic burdens. Most caregivers used escape-avoidance coping mechanisms with a significant majority being involved in substance abuse (72.3%); feeling helpless or downplayed the severity of symptoms because of myths and stigma. Young age (p=0.002); being widowed (p=0.040), and being of low level of education (p<0.001) were associated with poor coping mechanisms.

Conclusions There was considerable prevalence of psychological burden and socio-economic status among caregivers with significant majority using adversarial coping mechanisms, particularly among socio-economically disadvantaged.