Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Psychiatry 1735-4587 10 4 2016 02 06 239 245 EN Farshid Shamsaei Behavioral Disorders and Substance Abuse Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical sciences, Hamadan, Iran Fatemeh Cheraghi Chronic Diseases (home care) Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical sciences, Hamadan, Iran Saied Bashirian Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 2015 12 24 Objective: The aim of this study ‎was to determine the prevalence ‎of the burden reported by family ‎caregivers of Patients with ‎schizophrenia.‎ Methods: This cross sectional ‎study involved face-to-face ‎interviews with family caregivers ‎of patients with schizophrenia. ‎Using convenience sampling, ‎‎225 caregivers were selected ‎from Farshchian psychiatry ‎Hospital in Hamadan, Iran from ‎July to September 2012. ‎Measures included patients and ‎caregivers’ demographic ‎variables and caregivers’ burden ‎using the Zarit Burden Interview ‎‎(ZBI). Data were analyzed by ‎SPSS-18 with Pearson ‎correlation and t-test.‎ Results: Using the ZBI, we found ‎that 7.6% of the caregivers ‎experienced “no to low” burden, ‎‎23.5% “mild to moderate”, 41.8% ‎‎“moderate to severe” and 27.1% ‎‎“severe” burden. The mean ‎average score of the responses ‎to ZBI was 51.73 (SD: ± 18.23). ‎The level of burden experienced ‎was significantly associated with ‎age, gender, and educational ‎level, relation to care recipient, ‎caregiving duration and duration ‎of schizophrenia illness.‎ Conclusion:‎‏ ‏Mental health ‎professionals need to develop ‎more innovative programs for ‎families of schizophrenic ‎patients. Furthermore, as a ‎replacement for supporting the ‎families and easing their ‎burdens, it may be more ‎effective to include them in the ‎health care team by assigning ‎specific tasks and providing the ‎required resources to them to ‎perform such tasks. https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/576 https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/download/576/529