Care burden and self-reported health status of informal women caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional study on women who were caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected spouses in Bumbu in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The sample consisted of 80 women randomly selected from a client visitation list of the home-based care program for AIDS patients. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied. A self-reported health status was calculated with five items from the questionnaire. The self-reported health status score of participants indicated poor health. The study highlights the great burden on caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Judy Mill, Norah Keating, and Jean Kipp for their useful comments on the draft of the manuscript. We thank B. Lututalla for his help in the field work and his assistance in getting the local approval for the study. The study was financed by a grant from the Funds for International Development Activities (FSIDA), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and by a grant from the Gateway Rotary Club, Edmonton, Canada.