Financial and Emotional Burden of Caregiving on Informal Caregivers of Geriatric Patients at a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Ibadan, Nigeria

This study aims to investigate factors contributing to the financial and emotional burden of informal caregivers of the geriatric patients at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was conducted among 412 informal caregivers, and 4 healthcare providers. Data was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire (408), in-depth interview (4) and key informant interview guides (4). Descriptive statistics; Fischer’s exact, Chi-square and independent t-tests were used to analyze the quantitative data. Verbatim transcriptions and thematic analysis were used to derive relevant themes in the qualitative data. The respondents’ age ranged from 17 to 80 years with a mean age of 42.8 ± 12.1 years and over 57.8% were in the 31–50 age group. Two thirds, (64.0%) of the respondents were females and 48.1% were off springs of the care recipients. Over half (53.2%) of the care recipients recently transitioned into the geriatric age, 26.5% attend the geriatric center for regular check-ups while 0.5% presented with cancer. About 68.9% of the care recipients had no disabling health conditions. There was an association between level of caregiver’s household income and the emotional burden of the caregiver (p = 0.000). Factors that contributed to the financial burden as deduced from the qualitative interviews are out-of-pocket expenses, high costs of drugs and investigations, nature and duration of care recipient’s illness. Multilevel interventions will improve caregiving outcomes and alleviate the financial burden of the caregivers.