Stress-mediated quality of life outcomes in parents of childhood cancer and brain tumor survivors: a case–control study

Abstract

Purpose-To determine if caring for a child with cancer or a brain tumor affects parental health and mental health and if and to what extent stress mediates the relationship between case status and parental quality of life.Methods-In person interviewer-assisted surveys were administered to 74 case dyads (children diagnosed with cancer or a brain tumor and their parents) and 129 control dyads (children without health problems and their parents from a community sample) to assess health-related quality of life and perceived levels of stress.Results-Parents of children with cancer or a brain tumor had significantly worse health-related quality of life, including worse overall mental health. Overall physical health was no different between cases and controls. Staged multivariate analysis revealed that worse health-related quality of life is completely mediated by perceived stress in these parents.Conclusions-The experience of caring for a child with cancer is not in itself related to poor quality of life, but is related to an increased level of stress that may adversely impact parental mental health and quality of life.

Variables que predicen la aparición de sobrecarga en cuidadores primarios infor¬males de niños con cáncer

“…Sin embargo, en este estudio no resultaron significativas las correlaciones del tiempo de cuidado con estas variables; esto en coincidencia con Rubira et al (24,50) . Las discrepancias posiblemente se deban a que en cuidadores de niños con cáncer se ha observado esta relación con la calidad de vida y no con trastornos emocionales específicos como los que se evaluaron en el presente estudio (15,25,(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62) . Las áreas que más se han afectado en la vida de los cuidadores de la muestra evaluada coinciden con el hecho de que la enfermedad del paciente impacta en la vida familiar, principalmente al aumentar las demandas del cuidador se alteran sus tareas domésticas y la relación que tiene con los otros hijos y con la pareja, lo cual ocasiona redistribución de roles, dificultades en la comunicación, alteraciones en las relaciones sexuales, distanciamientos e incluso infidelidades.…”

Benefit Finding and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Childhood Cancer Survivors

“…13 Stress is also related to worse QoL, 15 and stress additionally mediated the link between caring for a child with cancer and worse QoL. 18 Avoidant coping has been linked with reduced QoL. 19 …”

Health-related quality of life in parents of pediatric brain tumor survivors at the end of tumor-directed therapy

“…The only known study to examine this among PBTS found that caregivers of children with brain tumors had significantly lower HRQL compared to normative scores for healthy adults (Chien et al, 2003). Studies of children with cancer indicate that caregivers experience low quality of life or well-being (Klassen et al, 2008; Witt et al, 2010), however there is limited research on predictors of parental HRQL, particularly in pediatric brain tumor populations. The primary objectives of this study are to describe the physical and psychosocial HRQL of parents of PBTS within four months of the conclusion of tumor-directed therapy and to examine the associations between parental HRQL and parent, survivor, and family variables pertinent to the conceptual model of caregiving (Lancashire et al, 2010; Raina et al, 2004).…”