Interventions for stroke survivor caregivers: a systematic review

Objective. To synthesize and critically review the literature on interventions aimed at decreasing the burden of stroke survivor caregivers and other associated factors. Method. The literature search for the present systematic review was performed in PubMed, SciELO, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) website, and the Virtual Health Library using the following search terms: Stroke AND Caregivers AND Intervention; and Stroke AND Caregivers AND clinical trial. Eight randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) published between 2008 and 2017 were selected. Results. The selected studies were performed in Sweden, Taiwan, Germany, China, India, and the United States. Psychoeducational, support, and skill acquisition interventions produced positive results for caregivers-in the psychological, physical, and social domains, in the quality of the care provided, and in the acquisition of knowledge by caregivers-and for stroke survivors-for example, decreased use of health care services and improved capacity for self-care. The critical evaluation of the studies showed that none met all the methodological requirements for RCTs. The main limitations were missing data and the heterogeneity of interventions. Conclusion. The interventions had positive results for caregivers and survivors. However, future studies should consider long term assessments of the outcomes, with detailed description of the baseline needs that guided the study and the sharing of the support materials used to allow the intervention to be reproduced.