Objective: Patients with lung cancer experience different feelings and reactions, based on their family, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds, which are a source of great distress, not only for the patients but also for their family caregivers. This study aimed to evaluate the impact that lung cancer stage and quality of life (QoL) of lung cancer patients have on caregiver burden. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Consecutive patient-caregiver dyads were selected and asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item ShortForm Health Survey (SF-36). Family caregivers also completed the Caregiver Burden Scale. Group-based modeling was used in order to identify patients with early- or advanced-stage cancer (IA to IIIA vs. IIIB to IV) plus non-impaired or impaired QoL (SF36 total score > 50 vs. ≤ 50). Patient-caregiver dyads were stratified into four groups: early-stage cancer+non-impaired QoL; advanced-stage cancer+non-impaired QoL; early-stage cancer+impaired QoL; and advanced-stage cancer+impaired QoL. Results: We included 91 patient-caregiver dyads. The majority of the patients were male and heavy smokers. Family caregivers were younger and predominantly female. The burden, QoL, level of anxiety, and level of depression of caregivers were more affected by the QoL of the patients than by their lung cancer stage. The family caregivers of the patients with impaired QoL showed a higher median burden than did those of the patients with non-impaired QoL, regardless of disease stage. Conclusions: Caregiver burden is more affected by patient QoL than by lung cancer stage.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative disease of the nervous system that primarily affects motor neurons. ALS type 8 (ALS8) is a familiar form with predominant involvement of lower motor neurons, tremor, and slow progression. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe sensory involvement in a cohort of ALS8 patients and compare it with the characteristics of sporadic ALS (sALS) patients and controls. Methods: We compared data from 40 ALS8 and 10 sALS patients assessed by neurological evaluation and electrophysiological study. Skin biopsies were performed in these patients and 12 controls for analysis of intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density by protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) immunohistochemistry. Results: The ALS8 group was younger than the sALS group at the onset of symptoms (p < 0.05) and had a longer disease evolution (p < 0.01). Sensory abnormalities were evident in 35% of the ALS8 and 30% of the sALS patients by neurological examination, and all ALS patients presented normal sensory nerve action potentials. Despite being similar in the ALS8 and sALS groups, IENF density in the ALS8 group was lower than that in the controls (p < 0.0005). In the ALS8 group, IENF density was significantly lower in patients with impairment of vibratory sensation than in those without this finding (p < 0.05) and in females than in males (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Sensory impairment and decreased IENF density are present in ALS8 patients at a frequency and intensity similar to that in the sALS group.

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