ประสบการณ์อาการเหนื่อยล้า การจัดการอาการและคุณภาพชีวิตของญาติผู้ดูแลผู้บาดเจ็บสมอง

Abstract

Fatigue is a symptom commonly found in the family caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). They have to manage fatigue in order to maintain their quality of life (QOL). This study aimed to identify the level to fatigue, fatigue management strategies, and level of QOL in the family caregivers of persons with TBI. A sample of 140 caregivers living in a community of upper southern region of Thailand was purposively recruited. Data were collected using the a 5-part questionnaire including (1) Demographic Data of Family Caregivers of Persons with TBI, (2) TBI Patients Demographic Data, (3) Fatigue Symptom of Family caregivers of persons with TBI Questionnaire, (4) Fatigue Management Strategies Questionnaire, and (5) Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Persons with TBI Questionnaire (Short Form (SF)-36 Health Survey). The questionnaires were examined for validity and reliability. The internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Fatigue Symptoms of Family Caregivers of Persons with TBI Questionnaire and Quality of Life of Family caregivers of persons with TBI Questionnaire were .76 and 82 respectively. The descriptive statistics were analyzed. The results were as follows: 1. The fatigue of family caregivers overall was at a moderate level (M= 5.31, SD= 0.54). When considering each dimension, the perception/attitude was at a high level (M= 7.72, SD= 0.82), the behavior/severity (M= 5.63, SD= 0.78) and the feeling (M= 5.50, SD= 1.60) were at moderate levels. However, the intelligence and emotion dimension was at a mild level (M=2.84, SD=0.76). 2. All family caregivers used non-medication management to reduce their fatigue consisting of physical and psychological/emotional care. The top three most commonly used fatigue managements were (1) sleep (49.30%), (2) exercise (24.30%), and (3) distraction (21.40%). The reasons for selecting those managements were relaxation, refreshing, and relief of fatigue. They evaluated the effectiveness of fatigue management overall at a moderate to high level. The medication use was rare (3.60%) and used only when they felt worse fatigue. 3. The overall QoL (M-59.50, SD-6.76) and its dimensions including physical (M= 60.66, SD= 9.43) and mental dimension (M= 57.93, SD= 4.69), were at a moderate levels. Considering the item in each dimension, the highest score was for the physical function item (M= 72.68, SD= 1.51) and the lowest score was the limited role due to physical problem item (M= 50.63, SD= 1.80). The results of this study indicate that health professionals should provide information to family caregivers of persons with TBI to manage the physical and behavioral problems in persons after TBI to reduce their anxiety and fatigue. In addition, they should be encouraged to use non-medication methods to manage their fatigue and maintain their QoL when providing long-term care for persons with TBI.