Caring for a Mentally Ill Patient at Home, Mental Health, Religiosity, and Spirituality and Their Association With Family Caregivers' Quality of Life in Lebanon

Semaan Semaan; Chadia Haddad; Emmanuelle Awad; Hala Sacre; Rabih Hallit; Marwan Akel; Pascale Salameh; Sahar Obeid; Souheil Hallit

doi:10.4088/PCC.22m03333

Caring for a Mentally Ill Patient at Home, Mental Health, Religiosity, and Spirituality and Their Association With Family Caregivers' Quality of Life in Lebanon

Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2023 Jul 18;25(4):22m03333. doi: 10.4088/PCC.22m03333.

Authors

Semaan Semaan¹, Chadia Haddad², Emmanuelle Awad³, Hala Sacre², Rabih Hallit^{1

4}, Marwan Akel², Pascale Salameh^{2

5

6

7}, Sahar Obeid³, Souheil Hallit^{1

8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon.
² Institut National de Sante Publique, Epidemiologie Clinique et Toxicologie, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Department of Social and Education Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Jbeil, Lebanon.
⁴ Infectious Disease Department, Bellevue Medical Center, Mansourieh, Lebanon.
⁵ School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.
⁶ Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon.
⁷ Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁸ Infectious Disease Department, Notre Dame des Secours University Hospital Center, Byblos, Lebanon.
⁹ Applied Science Research Center, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan.
¹⁰ Corresponding Author: Souheil Hallit, PharmD, MSc, MPH, PhD, School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, PO Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon (souheilhallit@hotmail.com).

PMID: 37471477
DOI: 10.4088/PCC.22m03333

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, work fatigue, religiosity, and spirituality on quality of life (QOL) among family caregivers of people with mental Illness and those who care for family members without mental illness.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted between July and September 2019 that enrolled 600 caregivers using a proportionate sample from all Lebanese governorates. Participants completed a 2-part questionnaire. The first part assessed sociodemographic and other characteristics and the second part comprised various scales including the Quality of Life 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, 9-Item Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Item, Perceived Stress Scale, Work Fatigue Inventory, Lebanese Insomnia Scale, Mature Religiosity Scale, and Spirituality Index of Well-Being.

Results: Higher stress (P < .001), higher depression (P < .001), higher emotional work fatigue (P < .001), married parents compared to single (P = .026), having a child with an intellectual disability (P = .002), and sleep-wake disorders (P = .003) were significantly associated with lower physical QOL, whereas higher spirituality (P < .001) was associated with higher physical QOL. Higher insomnia (P = .01), higher anxiety (P = .017), higher mental work fatigue (P < .001), living with a patient having a mental psychiatric illness (P = .023), caregivers with a chronic disease (P = .040), and taking care of a child with depressive disorders (P = .027) were significantly associated with lower mental QOL, whereas higher spirituality was significantly associated with higher mental QOL.

Conclusions: The care of a person with mental illness involves multiple challenges and problems, leading to negative impacts on the familial caregivers' mental health and magnified by the absence of sufficient support and awareness and training programs in Lebanon.

Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2023;25(4)22m03333.

Author affiliations are listed at the end of this article.

MeSH terms

Caregivers / psychology
Case-Control Studies
Child
Humans
Lebanon
Mental Health
Mentally Ill Persons*
Quality of Life / psychology
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* / therapy
Spirituality