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Review: poor-quality trials suggest that some interventions for family caregivers of patients with stroke improve carer outcomes

C Carroll

Dr C Carroll, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; c.carroll@shef.ac.uk

QUESTION
Can interventions improve outcomes for family caregivers of patients with stroke?

REVIEW SCOPE
Studies selected evaluated interventions intended primarily for family carers (18 y of age) of patients with stroke. Exclusion criteria were interventions of education or information-giving only and studies assessing cost-effectiveness only. Outcomes included caregiver wellbeing and coping skills.

REVIEW METHODS
Medline, PreMedline, and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica to 2006; AMED, ASSIA, BNI, C2-SPECTR, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, IBSS, PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index, and Science Citation Index to 2005; grey and unpublished literature to 2005; and reference lists were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Authors of unpublished data were contacted. 7 RCTs (8 articles, n = 1037, 51% women) met the selection criteria. Researchers were blinded in 4 trials; 5 trials had comparable groups at baseline; 1 used intention-to-treat analysis; and 5 reported patient follow-up.

MAIN RESULTS
Meta-analysis was not done because . . . [Full text of this article]

Maureen Markle-Reid

School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada