Aims: The present study was designed to investigate quality of life (QOL) among caregivers of cancer inpatients, and to explore the related factors with the long-term goal to improve QOL of cancer caregivers in China.
Methods:A cross-sectional study was performed during the period January-March 2008. Subjects comprised 358 caregivers of cancer inpatients. The questionnaires pertaining to QOL, sociodemographic characteristics, caregiving demands, available social resources, caregiving situation, and caregiver's health status were used. Data were collected by nurses through interviews.
Results:The average QOL score of these subjects was 5.26. General linear model analysis showed that caregiver's QOL was significantly associated with, in standardized estimate sequence, spousal relationship, patient's activities of daily living, and chronic disease (no). Overall spousal relationship to patient had the strongest association with caregiver's QOL.Conclusions: Psychological well-being and social concerns of cancer caregivers were disrupted more seriously than spiritual well-being and physical wellbeing. In addition, spousal relationship, patient's disability, and caregiver's health status could affect the caregiver's QOL.Key words: burden, cancer, caregiver, oncology, quality of life. C ANCER REMAINS ONE of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. According to the World Cancer Report estimated by the World Health Organization, cancer rates have increased at an alarming rate, from 10 million new cases globally in 2000 to 15 million in 2002, 1 and it has been estimated that, in 2020, the world's cancer population will increase to 7.5 billion, which will include 15 million new cancer cases and 12 million cancer deaths.2 However, cancer has an effect not only on patients, but also on family caregivers, because cancer patients need long-term care due to the long duration of the disease and the treatment, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In a study of family caregivers of cancer patients, 66.8% of caregivers quit work or made major life changes in order to provide care, 68.0% of families lost most of their savings, and 55.0% of families lost their main source of income. Therefore, the health and well-being of cancer caregivers have attracted accelerating interest in recent years, and have been studied well in Western countries. [4][5][6][7] Quality of life (QOL) is a term used widely to indicate an individual's general well-being, and has been applied in the field of caregiving for years. Studies conducted in Western countries have *Correspondence: Lie Wang, PhD, Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, China Medical University, No. 92 Beier Road, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001, China. Email: liewang@mail.cmu.edu.cn Received 9 November 2009; revised 14 June 2010; accepted 11 July 2010. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2010; 64: 505-513 doi:10.1111/j.1440-1819.02131.x 505 © 2010 The Authors Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2010 Japanese Society of Psychiatry ...