Predictors of Caregiver Burden among Parents of Children with Cancer

Abstract

Background: Cancer is one of the most common diseases in children. Cancer in children can cause many problems for parents, and impose heavy care burden on them, which can lead to negative health consequences. The aim of this study was to determine caregiving burden and relevant influential factors among parents of children with cancer.
 Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done on 125 parents of children with cancer in oncology department of Shohada Hospital, Tehran, Iran, during March to August 2017. Caregiving burden was measured using the Caregiver Burden Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples T test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and multivariate linear regression analysis (stepwise method) were used in data analysis with SPSS software (v.19).
 Results: The mean score of parents’ care burden was 52.76 ± 10. Moreover, 17.6%, 71.2% and 11.2% of parents had low, moderate, and high care burden, respectively. Regression analyses indicated that the factors associated with care burden were cancer type (Acute myeloid leukemia (β=0.36, p<0.001) and Ewing sarcoma (β=0.16, p=0.007)), the number of hospitalization (β=0.38, p<0.001), duration of disease (β=-0.31, p<0.001), parent’s age (β=-0.29, p<0.001), parent’s income (β=-0.23, p<0.001), and child’s age (β=0.24, p<0.001). These variables accounted for 65% of the variance in care burden.
 Conclusion: The result of this study demonstrated that most of parents of children with cancer had moderate levels of care burden. Different variables increased care burden in parents. Therefore, planning for holistic interventions to reduce care burden in parents and improve quality of care is necessary.

Care burden and associated factors in caregivers of children with cancer

“…This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the level of care burden and its related factors in the caregivers of children with cancer in Iran. In line with previous studies [ 4 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 28 ], most caregivers of children with cancer endured moderate to high care burden. Cancer diagnosis and treatment cause many psychological problems for the family of a child with cancer.…”

Investigation of coronavirus anxiety and caregiving burden among the parents of children with cancer during the COVID‐19 outbreak: A descriptive and cross‐sectional study

“…This study's result, which stands in contrast to the literature, is thought to be due to the fact that only anxiety towards coronavirus was measured rather than overall anxiety. In addition, this study is not compatible with Ahmadi et al’s ( 2019 ) study may be due to the different age groups of the children.…”

“…Ozdemir Koyu and Tas Arslan ( 2021 ) identified no relationship between the burden of caregiving and children's ages. However, Ahmadi et al ( 2019 ) identified a relationship between parental age, child age and parental care burden. Moreover, studies revealed a positive correlation between the anxiety and care burden of parents of children with cancer (Köse et al, 2019 ; Ozdemir Koyu & Tas Arslan, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Köse et al ( 2019 ) revealed that among the parents of children diagnosed with cancer, the anxiety and care burden levels increased together. Ahmadi et al ( 2019 ) found that the factors influencing the care burden of parents of children with cancer were the cancer type, the number of hospitalisations, the duration of illness, the parent's age and income and the age of the child.…”

Development of the Caregiving Burden Scale for Family Caregivers of Children with Cancer

“…In studies evaluating the burden of care among parents of children with cancer and chronic diseases, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), the Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS), and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) are widely used (Ahmadi et al, 2019; Mohammadi et al, 2020; Salvador et al, 2015; Santo-Espirito et al, 2011; Özdemir et al, 2009). Current CBSs used in these studies have largely been developed for family caregivers of adults with dementia or stroke, or with elderly people.…”