Introduction:

The caregiver is an individual who has the responsibility to meet the physical and psychological needs of the patient. The term "caregiver burden" is used to describe the physical, emotional, and financial cost of providing such care.

Objectives:

The objective of this study was to determine the levels of overload in caregivers of patients with mental disorders in the short-stay ward of the Psychiatric Hospital.

Materials and methods:

Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study, where the Zarit Scale of Caregiver Overload was applied to caregivers of patients who attend the short-stay ward of the Psychiatric Hospital, Asunción, Paraguay, with a total of 79 participants.

Results:

74.7% of the caregivers are women and the ages are between 21 and 85 years. Regarding the situation of coexistence of the caregiver, it is obtained that 39.2% are married and 25.3% are single. 43% have primary studies and 40.5% do housework. Regarding the frequency of caring for family members, caregivers report that 79.7% do it permanently, 12.7% a few hours a day, 6.3% a few hours a week, and 1.3% a few days a week. month. Taking into account the Zarit Scale and the classification by levels of overload, it is obtained that 65.8% have no overload, 15.2% have mild overload and 19% have intense overload.

Conclusion:

The intense overload was 19%, so it is essential that the Psychiatric Services of the country can offer psychiatric and psychological care to relatives and caregivers of patients diagnosed with a mental disorder.

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