PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

The study aimed to investigate family caregivers' experiences of caring to a schizophrenia patient in the northern part of Malaysia. The family caregiving experiences from different ethnic groups in Malaysia were compared between urban and rural dwellers. Overall, there were 154 family caregivers who completed the questionnaires comprising standardized measures of the Experiences of Caregiving Inventory (ECI) and the Life Skills Profiles (LSP-39). Malay women were found to be the majority of the caregivers in this study who mostly came from the rural area. This study found that the majority of caregivers were Malay women who live in the rural area. Most of the caregivers identified themselves as parents aged 50 years and above. Predictors of negative appraisal for family caregivers were identified: (1) younger patient, (2) unemployed patient, (3) family with low income and (4) patient with low life skills. Meanwhile, predictors of positive appraisal include: (1) married patient, (2) patient with good like skills, (3) monthly income above RM800 and (4) dwelling in urban area. Interestingly, the life skills profile becomes a strong predictor for negative and positive appraisals. These predictors should assist community health workers when working with the family caregivers of schizophrenia patient.