Abstract:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to compare the effect of a symptom management program on fatigue among caregivers of the disabled at home. The sample group covered 44 main caregivers, separated into 22 cases for the control group and another 22 cases for the experiment group. The control group received routine care. The experimental group was given a symptom management practice program as well as care. The program was developed based on the symptom management model of Dodd et al. (2001), which included 4 stages: (1) symptom experience assessment; (2) potential development of symptom management; (3) self-management at home; and (4) evaluation. The instruments were a demographic data sheet and fatigue questionnaire (developed from Piper Fatigue Mode (Piper et al., 1998). The fatigue questionnaire had a Cronbachs alpha coefficient of.94 when tested for reliability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, dependent t-tests, and independent t-tests. The results suggested that the fatigue score of the experimental group after the end of a 4-week and an 8-week program was less than that before receiving the program, with statistical significance .05. The fatigue scores of the experimental group after the end of the 4-week and 8-week programs were lower than those of the control group with statistical significance .05.