Título

IMPACT OF CONGENITAL ZIKA SYNDROME ON PRIMARY CAREGIVERS: DEPRESSION PSYCHOSOCIAL STATUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Objetivo

To investigate the impact of Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) on primary caregivers, including depression-related psychosocial status and quality of life.

Método

Primary caregivers of CZS-affected children responded to a checklist questionnaire about demographic data and psychosocial status, as well as to the Edinburgh Post-Partum Depression Scale for evaluation of vulnerability to depression and to the abbreviated version of World Health Organization's Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire.

Resultado

The survey included 78 consenting primary caregivers. Most were mothers (92.3%); with average 27.3 years of age at childbirth; married or in stable relationships (62.8%); with monthly income of up to 2 Brazilian minimum salaries (91.0%); and had stopped working to provide full-time childcare (69.2%). Almost twenty percent of primary caregivers had not completed lower secondary education. In terms of psychosocial characteristics, access to available medical services was deemed unsatisfactory by 42.3% of respondents, 44.9% reported receiving professional psychological support, and 28.2% did not receive available governmental financial support. Thirty-two percent of participants had high risk for depression. Higher QoL scores for primary caregivers were strongly correlated with: higher monthly income (environmental domain); working outside the home (psychological and social relations domains); perceived availability of time for self-care (all domains); and having received a professionally-designed kit for multisensorial stimulation of their children at home (self-report domain).

Conclusão

The results from the current study suggest that research and clinical practices need to be family‐focused as CZS is shown to affect primary caregivers’ psychosocial condition and QoL.