Patients in a persistent vegetative state: Caregiver attitudes and reactions

Objectives. This exploratory study investigated the problems encountered by caregivers of long-stay hospital patients in a persistent vegetative state . Material and methods Sixteen primary caregivers completed questionnaires designed to assess their personality, psychophysical distress, coping strat egies and caregiving-related problems. Results. Males showed a higher level of emotional distress and neuroticism than females. All of the caregivers used situation-oriented coping strategies less over time, had apparently un satisfactory family relationships, and their emotional distress increased w ith disease duration. The thoughts of the possible death of patient were as sociated with anxiety and depressive symptoms. The caregivers' everyday liv es were characterized by limited social relationships, and indoor and outdo or interests. Conclusion - Our study underlines the importance of psychosoc ially assessing PVS patients caregivers, who are often alone in coping with a irreversible situation. It also introduces a questionnaire (FSQ2) that s eems to be sufficient to assess the caregiving-related problems.