Caregiving preparedness and depression as key predictors of quality of life in primary stroke caregivers

Purpose: This study examined how demographic factors, health status, and caregiving preparedness influence the quality of life (QoL) of primary caregivers of stroke patients in Taiwan. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 145 caregivers at a central Taiwan hospital. Data were collected using the Caregiving Preparedness Scale (PCS), an 8-item tool assessing readiness in general care, emergency management, and resource access (5-point Likert scale), and the WHOQOL-BREF Taiwan version, a 28-item measure of physical, psychological, social, and environmental QoL. Results: The average QoL score was 56.5 out of 80, assessed using WHOQOL-BREF. Stepwise regression analysis identified key predictors of QoL, with variance explained by CESD scores (34.9%), caregiving preparedness (19.3%), caregiver age (8.3%), marital status (0.9%), caregiving time (0.8%), employment status (0.7%), patient age (1.2%), and IADL score (2.6%). The reported percentages reflect each factor’s contribution to QoL variance. Conclusions: Support should be prioritized for caregivers with high depression scores, low caregiving preparedness, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities such as unemployment or low household income, to enhance their quality of life. The reported percentages reflect the variance in QoL explained by each predictor in the regression analysis.