Factors associated with caring behaviors of family caregivers for patients receiving home mechanical ventilation with tracheostomy: A cross-sectional study

• Published in: PloS one 2021-07, Vol.16 (7), p.e0254987-e0254987
• Main Authors: Kim, Hyang Sook, Lee, Chung Eun, Yang, Yong Sook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Artificial respiration; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Caregivers; Complications and side effects; Cross-sectional studies; Data collection; Education; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Engineering and Technology; Hospitals; Likert scale; Mechanical ventilation; Medical technology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multiple regression analysis; Neuromuscular diseases; Nurses; Nursing care; Ostomy; Patient outcomes; Patients; People and Places; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Social Sciences; Tracheostomy; Tracheotomy; Ventilation; Ventilators
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254987

The number of patients on home mechanical ventilation (HMV) worldwide has been steadily rising as medical technological advanced. To ensure the safety and quality care of the patients receiving HMV with tracheostomy, caring behavior of family caregivers is critical. However, studies on caring behavior of family caregivers and its associated factors were remained unexplored. This study aimed to describe the caring behaviors of family caregivers for patients receiving home mechanical ventilation with tracheostomy and to identify factors associated with their caring behaviors. This was a cross-sectional study for 95 family caregivers for patients with invasive home mechanical ventilation in South Korea. Caring behaviors were assessed by the Caring Behavior Scale with 74 items with 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Caring behaviors score of caregivers was 304.68±31.05 out of 370. They were significantly associated with knowledge on emergency care ([beta] = 0.22, p = .011), number of required instruments for care ([beta] = 0.21, p = .010), frequency of home visit care ([beta] = 0.19, p = .017), experience of emergency situation for the last six months ([beta] = 0.19, p = .009) and activities of daily living of patient ([beta] = 0.27, p = .002). Development of standardized multidisciplinary discharge education for improving the caring capacity of caregivers is required for successful and healthy application of home mechanical ventilation.