Level of Burden and Health-Related Quality of Life in Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients

Abstract

The complexity of palliative care means that the emotional distress and burden that primary family caregivers suffer under can be particularly high. The objective of this study was to determine the level of burden endured by these primary family caregivers and to identify the variables that predict it in the caregiving relatives of people who require home-based palliative care. A descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study was conducted. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected from caregivers through a self-administered questionnaire that included questions from the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS). A total of 77 caregivers participated; 66.2% were women, and the mean age was 61.5 years. Most (62.3%) were providing care to cancer patients. From among these data, the presence of anxiety as a clinical problem (48.1%), a high average fatigue score (FAS) of 23.0 (SD = 8.5), and the prevalence of intense overload (41.6%) stood out. We found statistically significant correlations between the variables of burden, fatigue, post-traumatic growth, anxiety, and depression, with the latter two being the main predictive variables of burden. In addition, caregiver burden was associated with a worsening of health. Identifying the factors that influence the appearance of overburden will allow the specific needs of careers to be assessed in order to offer them emotional support within the healthcare environment.

Finding the silver linings: Psychosocial correlates of posttraumatic growth among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors

“…Caregiving burden was associated with higher PTG in the regression analysis, which was consistent with findings in caregivers of palliative care patients in Spain 33 and head and neck cancer patients in Ireland 34 . Theorists have suggested that stressors should be perceived as sufficiently life‐threatening to challenge people's assumptions about the reality and to elicit coping processes 31 .…”

Caregiver burden among informal caregivers in the largest specialized palliative care unit in Malaysia: a cross sectional study

“…In contrary, recent findings have demonstrated that caregiving for cancer and dementia patients have been associated with post traumatic growth and improvement in family resilience [22]. Over time, family members facing persistent challenges from caregiving to these conditions were found to develop personal and relational transformation to grow out of adversity.…”

“…Over time, family members facing persistent challenges from caregiving to these conditions were found to develop personal and relational transformation to grow out of adversity. Post traumatic growth and family resilience have been associated with a reduction in the risk of depression, anxiety and stress [22]. The positive outcome can also be explained by the subjective nature of caregiver burden where IC may suffer from burden but value the experience as it contributed to their own self-enrichment [22].…”

“…Post traumatic growth and family resilience have been associated with a reduction in the risk of depression, anxiety and stress [22]. The positive outcome can also be explained by the subjective nature of caregiver burden where IC may suffer from burden but value the experience as it contributed to their own self-enrichment [22]. Considering the contradictory findings of the effect of caregiving and the unique Malaysian population where filial obligation is a learned tradition, research on the association between caregiver burden among palliative patients, their psychological manifestation and other potential risk factor in this population is warranted.…”

Complementary music therapy for cancer patients in at-home palliative care and their caregivers: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial

“…For their part, family caregivers are subjected to constant stress, which in many cases is greater than that experienced by other informal caregivers, since the patient often presents severe and changing symptoms that require close, constant care and attention. Under these conditions, the physical health of the caregiver may be affected [11,12], with a consequent negative impact on their quality of life [13,14].…”