Either called "chemobrain" or "chemofog," the long-term CICI in cancer survivors is real. The need for multidisciplinary care interventions toward a timely diagnosis and management of CICI is clearly warranted.
The sample of caregivers we studied was psychologically burdened to a significant degree, a fact that obviously deteriorates their QOL. Appropriate psychopharmacological interventions are warranted to reduce caregivers' burden.
The first objective of the current observational study was to assess the degree of religiosity in Greek Christian Orthodox primary caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The second objective was to evaluate the interrelations between religiosity and quality of life (QOL) and to identify the determinants of QOL, an endpoint of considerable importance in clinical research and practice. Twenty-two male and 13 female primary caregivers (mean age 47.3 ± 12.4 years) of an equal number of patients with MS, who consented to participate, completed the Systems of the Greek version of the Belief Inventory (SBI-15R) and the Greek validated version of EuroQOL (EQ-5D). The analysis revealed high scores on religiosity, especially among females. Caregivers scored in the religious beliefs and practices subscale of SBI-15R with a mean score of 22.8 ± 7.8 (range 0-30) and with 7.1 ± 4.8 (range 0-14) in the social support subscale. However, both of the SBI-15R domains were almost unrelated to the degree of overall QOL. There was only a reliable (but with little clinical value) association between the pain/discomfort domain of the EQ-5D with the SBI-15R beliefs and practices subscale (r = -0.38, p = 0.03). Although high levels of religiosity among Greek Christian Orthodox primary caregivers of MS patients were evident, this study did not demonstrate any beneficial effect of religious beliefs and practices on their QOL. Further prospective studies with a population with the same and/or diverse religious and cultural backgrounds are needed to better elucidate the complex association between religiosity and QOL in primary caregivers of MS patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.