Survey knowledge of caregivers of patients of schizophrenia about home care in ‎

Introduction: More than &lrm;&rlm;70%&rlm;&lrm; of patients with schizophrenia are cared by family at home. &lrm;Knowledge deficit of caregivers is basically the basic and fundamental problem regarding the &lrm;signs and symptoms of disease. &nbsp;&lrm; Objective: This study was to assess the knowledge level of schizophrenic patients' caregivers &lrm;referring to Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kerman city regarding home care. &lrm; &nbsp;Method: This descriptive study was conducted on &lrm;&rlm;196&rlm;&lrm; caregivers of schizophrenic patients in &lrm;Shahid Beheshti hospital. The data collection tool consisted of a researcher made &lrm;questionnaire and information was obtained through face to face interview. The data were &lrm;analyzed using SPSS, t-test, ANOVA, and Spearman rank correlation. &lrm; Results: The mean knowledge score of caregivers and standard deviation were&rlm;10.66&rlm;&lrm; and &lrm;SD=&lrm;&rlm;2.04&rlm;&lrm; respectively. The maximum knowledge was observed in physical area (X=&lrm;&rlm;13.96&rlm;&lrm;, &lrm;SD=&lrm;&rlm;4.32&rlm;&lrm;) and the minimum knowledge was in psychological area (X=&lrm;&rlm;9.11&rlm;&lrm;, SD=&lrm;&rlm;1.62&rlm;&lrm;). &lrm;There was a significant association between knowledge and the level of education in patients &lrm;&lrm;(p<&lrm;&rlm;0.01&rlm;&lrm;).&lrm; Conclusion: Our findings showed that caregivers had poor knowledge level. Programs for &lrm;promoting the knowledge of caregivers are necessary.&lrm;