Care burden and self-reported health status of informal women caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional study on women who were caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected spouses in Bumbu in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The sample consisted of 80 women randomly selected from a client visitation list of the home-based care program for AIDS patients. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied. A self-reported health status was calculated with five items from the questionnaire. The self-reported health status score of participants indicated poor health. The study highlights the great burden on caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa.