Background: Caring for a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is highly stressful and can impact negatively on the physical and psychological well-being of caregivers. To accurately assess caregiver burden (CB), health care providers (HCPs) need to identify characteristics associated with an increase in CB.
Aim: The aim of this review is to explore CB in caregivers of adult patients with ESKD and to identify characteristics associated with any increase in CB.
Method: A comprehensive literature search was completed using five electronic databases. Medline, Embase, CINHAL, PsycINFO, and Scopus. The Joanna Briggs Institute checklist (JBI) was used to quality appraise full text papers included in the review. No time limit for the date of publication of studies was employed, to enable the inclusion of more extensive literature.
Results: A total of 38 relevant studies from 18 countries were identified and included in the review. A variety of patient and caregiver factors can impact positively or negatively on CB, including socio-demographic factors of patients and caregivers, disease-related factors, situational and relational factors, environmental factors, and psychological factors.
Conclusion: This review provides awareness to HCPs of the important factors associated with CB, when assessing or targeting interventions for caregivers experiencing burden.
Keywords: caregiver burden; caregiver strain; caregiver stress; end-stage kidney disease; renal failure; systematic review.