Do age and quality of life of patients with cancer influence quality of life of the caregiver?
Section snippets
Background
Quality of life (QOL) is often difficult to maintain for patients with cancer and for their caregivers. Overall QOL consists of 5 domains of well-being (WB): physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual.[1], [2] Aside from the negative psychological impact of receiving a cancer diagnosis, multiple domains of QOL also often decline in patients with cancer during oncologic treatment and its associated high symptom burden.[1], [3], [4] Caregiving during cancer treatment is labor
Methods
The larger study from which our data were derived was a randomized, two-group, controlled clinical trial to compare the efficacy of a structured, multidisciplinary intervention to standard care in maintaining overall QOL of patients with advanced cancer undergoing radiation therapy and their caregivers.3 This randomized trial was approved by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01360814). Patients were diagnosed with advanced cancer (brain,
Population Characteristics
One hundred and thirty-one patient–caregiver dyads participated in the study. No differences existed between caregivers in the intervention and control groups, so the caregiver data were combined. The majority of the caregivers were spouses (n = 98, 75%). Others were adult children (9.9%), parents (4.6%), significant others (3.8%), and friends (1.5%). Patients had a mean age of 59.3, standard deviation of 10.9 and range of 31–81. There were 90 (68.7%) patients younger than age 65 and 41 (31.3%)
Discussion
Our data show that caregivers of patients with cancer who are older demonstrate better QOL and less mood disturbances than caregivers of younger adult patients with cancer. In addition, caregivers of patients with good QOL also demonstrate better QOL compared to caregivers whose care recipients have poor QOL.
It is interesting that caregivers of older patients with cancer reported higher levels of mental, emotional, and spiritual WB, felt more socially supported, had fewer financial concerns and
Disclosures and Conflict of Interest Statements
No competing financial interests exist.
Author Contributions
Concept and design: M.I. Lapid, P.J. Atherton, J.A. Sloan, M.M. Clark, T.A. Rummans
Data collection: M.I. Lapid, P.J. Atherton, J.A. Sloan, M.M. Clark, T.A. Rummans
Analysis and interpretation of data: V. Shahi, M.I. Lapid, S. Kung, P.J. Atherton, J.A. Sloan, M.M. Clark, T.A. Rummans
Manuscript writing and approval: V. Shahi, M.I. Lapid, S. Kung, P.J. Atherton, J.A. Sloan, M.M. Clark, T.A. Rummans
Acknowledgment
Funding for this study was provided by the Linse Bock Foundation and the Saint Marys Hospital Sponsorship Board. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Linse Bock Foundation or the Saint Marys Hospital Sponsorship Board.
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