Association of motor performance of children with cerebral palsy and burnout level of their informal caregivers in an African community.

Purpose: The demands of caring for children with cerebral palsy (CWCP) may lead to burnout among the informal caregivers of these children. However, this subject area has not received significant research attention in Nigeria. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between burnout level of informal caregivers of CWCP and the motor performance of the CWCP. The association between burnout level of the informal caregivers and selected clinical variables of CWCP was also investigated.

Methods: This is a descriptive study of 75 consecutively-sampled informal caregivers (34.76±8.7 years) of CWCP and an equal number of their CWCP. Burnout level of the caregivers and motor performance of the CWCP were assessed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and Gross Motor Function Classification System Family Questionnaire (GMFCSFQ) respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse results at alpha = 0.05.

Results: There was a statistically significant positive association between the CBI scores and the GMFCSFQ scores (p < 0.05). Age of the CWCP as well as type and topography of the cerebral palsy were not significantly associated with the caregivers' burnout level. Similarly, the age and sex of the caregivers had no statistically significant association with their burnout level (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Caregiving for children with lower motor performance is associated with higher burnout among caregivers. This may impact negatively on the overall health of the caregivers and the quality of care for the CWCP.