Caregivers’ morbidity in palliative care unit: predicting by gender, age, burden and self-esteem

Abstract

A high prevalence of morbidity was noticed in caregivers of patients admitted at the palliative care unit. The early provision of psychological support to caregivers by healthcare staff may indeed help to decrease comorbidity symptoms.

Anxiety and Depression in Caregivers of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients: Impact on Their Perspective of the Patients' Symptom Burden

“…These rates are comparable to previous studies, e.g., a study of CostaRequena and colleagues who reported a proportion of 76% of anxiety and 77% of depression in 159 family caregivers of patients in a palliative care unit. 1 In our study, prevalence and intensity of anxiety and depression in caregivers correlated significantly with each other and were independent of caregivers' gender. There was a clear trend towards higher symptom distress among male caregivers.…”

“…Concerning caregiver's gender, a study by Grov and colleagues had suggested a significant impact of female gender on the caregiver's depression, 3 whereas CostaRequena and colleagues had demonstrated a higher impact of caregivers' self-esteem and distress than of sociodemographic factors such as caregiver gender or age. 1 The impact of the relationship between patients and caregivers has rarely been investigated in previous studies. Palos and colleagues have reported significantly higher symptom levels in family members compared to nonfamily caregivers.…”

“…Some studies discuss differences between male or female relatives, the family caregivers' or the patients' age, the patients' symptom profile as well as the relatives' self-esteem, unmet needs, or quality of life. [1][2][3][4][5]7 Further studies have reported significant correlations between psychological symptoms in relatives and psychological symptoms or decreased psychosocial functioning in the palliative care patients. [8][9][10] Miaskowski and colleagues 11 reported findings suggesting that differences in patients' and caregivers' perception of the pain experience is associated with deleterious outcomes for the patient and the family caregiver, such as higher mood disturbance and lower quality of life.…”

“…Previous studies have described levels of distress, sadness, anxiety, and depression of about 40% to 70% in caregivers of patients with advanced cancer, particularly in the late palliative phase. [1][2][3][4][5][6] In addition, studies report significant rates of unmet needs and a significant decrease in quality of life in caregivers compared to normal population cohorts. 2,3 Possible factors influencing anxiety and depression in caregivers of palliative care patients are heterogeneous.…”

Caregiving burden and health-promoting behaviors among the family caregivers of cancer patients

“…In a study of the educational support for the caregivers of cancer patients (Belgacem et al, 2013), caregivers who did not receive educational intervention reported a ZBI score of 31.4 ± 14.9. Considering the low burden score of 16.0 ± 9.9 among those who received the educational program (Belgacem et al, 2013), and burden scores in the range of 17.0e23.2 among caregivers receiving palliative care (Costa-Requena et al, 2012;Grunfeld et al, 2004;Higginson and Gao, 2008;Higginson et al, 2010), the considerable caregiving burden being experienced by caregivers participated in this study which could to be relieved by additional support. It is of note that 88.4% of the participants of this study were caregivers of patients without or with minimal functional change, nonetheless substantial burden was expressed by the caregivers.…”