Understanding The Burden of Care Among Family Caregivers of Schizophrenia Patients in Malaysia: A Systematic Review
Abstract
Family caregivers play a vital role in managing schizophrenia in Malaysia's family-centric society, but this often results in a significant and multifaceted burden. This systematic review, aims to systematically identify and synthesise existing research focused on the burden experienced by family caregivers of schizophrenia in Malaysia. This study using the PRISMA checklist to ensure compliance with the guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across four databases Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, covering publications from 2010 to 2025. Studies were included if they were original research, conducted in Malaysia, published in English or Bahasa Melayu, and focused on caregiver burden among family caregivers of schizophrenia patients. The search strategy employed Boolean operators combining keywords related to schizophrenia, caregivers, burden, and Malaysia. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed systematically. The result shows, out of 240 papers, only nine papers were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Overall, the collective findings provide a clear picture of caregiver burden as a complex and broad issue encompassing psychological, social, and financial dimensions based on previous study in Malaysia. The effects of schizophrenia make caregivers of patients need help and support to cope with the burden of caring for the patient with schizophrenia. Caring for a person with schizophrenia can have a significant impact on the mental, physical, emotional, and financial health of caregivers.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/ebangi.2026.2303.23
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