The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect that participating in support groups for caregivers has on the quality of life and psychotropic drug use of family caregivers of adults with limitations in activities of daily living. A controlled quasi-experimental longitudinal design was used with 134 caregivers (64 in the experimental group and 70 in the control group). The outcomes were health-related quality of life (EuroQol 5D3L test) and psychotropic drug use (no/yes). The analyses were performed using SPSS and R statistical software. An interaction was observed between the condition and the level of limitations in activities of daily living of the care receiver, having an effect on the caregiver's psychotropic drug use (p = 0.003), with this use being lower among caregivers who attend support groups when their relatives present fewer limitations in activities of daily living. Moreover, the quality of life was higher in the post-test in the experimental group (B = 8.66, p = 0.015). In conclusion, support groups could improve the caregiver's quality of life and decrease psychotropic drug use when the care receiver has low limitations in activities of daily living.

中文翻译：

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支持团体对照顾者生活质量的影响

本研究的目的是评估参加照顾者支持小组对日常生活活动受限的成人家庭照顾者的生活质量和精神药物使用的影响。对 134 名护理人员（实验组 64 人，对照组 70 人）使用了受控的准实验纵向设计。结果是与健康相关的生活质量（EuroQol 5D3L 测试）和精神药物使用（否/是）。使用SPSS和R统计软件进行分析。观察到病情与被照顾者日常生活活动受限程度之间存在交互作用，对照顾者的精神药物使用产生影响（p = 0.003），当他们的亲属在日常生活活动中表现出较少的限制时，参加支持小组的照顾者的这种使用较低。此外，实验组后测的生活质量更高（B  =8.66，p  =0.015）。总之，当被照顾者的日常生活活动受到限制时，支持小组可以提高照顾者的生活质量并减少精神药物的使用。