Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Original Paper Cerebrovasc Dis 2006;21:128–133 DOI: 10.1159/000090211 Thai Stroke Patient Caregivers: Who They Are and What They Need Pornchai Jullamate a, b Zaida de Azeredo a Constança Pául a Rachaneeporn Subgranon b a ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; b Faculty of Nursing, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand bilitation and stroke caregivers’ needs should be pro- vided to Thai stroke caregivers performing informal care to ensure that both patients and caregivers have the best possible quality of life. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Stroke is not only a serious chronic neurological prob- lem but also one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide among adults, especially the elderly peo- ple [1–3]. In the United States, stroke is still the third leading cause of death even after many years of scientific study. Approximately 500,000 new stroke victims are re- ported annually in the United States. At present, it is es- timated that 200 stroke victims per 100,000 population will suffer a new stroke each year [4]. In several industri- alized European countries, as in other regions of the world, stroke is one of the most important health prob- lems and the major leading cause of morbidity and mor- tality [5–8]. Currently, the high incidence and prevalence of stroke have a major impact in the developing world, especially in Asian countries [9, 10] . It has been established that Key Words Informal caregiver  Thai stroke patient  Rehabilitation Abstract Background and Purposes: Primary informal caregivers play a significant role in providing care to stroke survi- vors after having been discharged from the hospital. Our aims were to describe the characteristics of Thai stroke caregivers and to explore their needs while providing care to their stroke relatives. Methods: Using open-end- ed questions, we individually interviewed 20 caregivers of stroke survivors to identify their characteristics and their own needs. Additional field notes were made dur- ing all interviews. Results: Our findings revealed that the majority of Thai informal stroke caregivers in this study were female, mostly daughters, with the exception of 2 Thai primary stroke caregivers found to be nieces. The majority of caregivers provided care to their stroke rela- tives 24 h per day. The four major categories of informal rehabilitation were: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual rehabilitation activities. Assistance, information and social support were the three main needs of the care- givers. Conclusion: Based on these findings, appropriate nursing information and assistance focusing on reha- Received: May 17, 2005 Accepted: September 7, 2005 Published online: December 9, 2005 Pornchai Jullamate Department of Community Health Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, 2 Universidade do Porto, PT–4099-033 Porto (Portugal) Tel. +351 222 062 267, Fax +351 222 062 232, E-Mail pornchai@buu.ac.th © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel 1015–9770/06/0212–0128$23.50/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/ced