Informal caregiver quality of life in a palliative oncology population
Abstract
Purpose Many patients with advanced cancer receive primary supports from informal caregivers (IC). As patient health deteriorates, IC assume increasing responsibility, often accompanied by distress. We investigated the quality of life (QOL) of IC of patients referred to a palliative radiotherapy (PRT) program. Methods IC accompanying patients to a dedicated PRT clinic completed a survey based on the validated Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC). Demographics, burden, and engagement in support services were evaluated. Summary statistics were calculated, and parameters were assessed for association with CQOLC scores by a generalized linear model. Results Two hundred one surveys were analyzed representing 197 unique patients. The mean age was 68.3 years, with predominantly lung (25.0%) and prostate (19.3%) malignancies. 24.4% had been in hospital/long-term care within the previous 7 days. IC were 60.8% female, and 60.6% were the patient's spouse. 69.5% lived with the patient and 38.3% were additionally employed. IC spent a daily mean of 6.6 h (SD 7) assisting with instrumental (72.5%) and basic (37.5%) activities of daily living. Mean CQOLC score was 82.1/140 (SD 20). 63.8% of IC had previously accessed support service(s), most commonly home care (37.2%) and pharmacy (29.1%). 55.9% indicated interest in services not yet accessed. Multivariate analysis revealed additional employment, cohabitation, poor patient performance status, and interest in accessing more support…
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El estado funcional pobre del paciente tuvo un impacto negativo sobre la calidad de vida de los cuidadores informales, con puntuaciones más bajas en el test CQOLC.
“El estado funcional pobre tuvo un impacto negativo sobre la CdV de los cuidadores informales con una puntuaciones en el test CQOLC más bajos.”
From Sobrecarga de trabajo en cuidadores de pacientes en cuidados paliativos oncológicos: Una revisión bibliográfica (2023) · cites this paper as Duimering et al., 2020
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Understanding and supporting informal cancer caregivers
Molassiotis, A., & Wang, M. (2022) · Current Treatment Options in Oncology · doi:10.1007/s11864-022-00955-3 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
van Roij, J., Brom, L., Sommeijer, D., van de Poll-Franse, L., Raijmakers, N., & on behalf of the eQuiPe study group (2021) · Supportive Care in Cancer · doi:10.1007/s00520-021-06365-9 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Understanding the Caregiver Perspective: The Impact of Caring for Patients with Advanced Cancer
Sun, B. J., & Lee, B. (2024) · Annals of Surgical Oncology · doi:10.1245/s10434-024-14990-x · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Villa Clavijo, C. G., Feijoo Espinosa, M. A., Huayllasaca Sarmiento, W. C., Chávez Prieto, H. S., & Cualchi Alvarracin, G. P. (2023) · Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar · doi:10.37811/cl_rcm.v7i2.6094
- Authors
- Duimering, A., Turner, J., Chu, K., Huang, F., Severin, D., Ghosh, S., Yee, D., Wiebe, E., Usmani, N., Gabos, Z., Patel, S., Danielson, B., Amanie, J., Roa, W., & Fairchild, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Fairchild, Alysa
- ORCID
- Venue
- Supportive Care in Cancer
- Published
- 2019-07-10
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1695-1702
- ISSN
- 0941-4355 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-7339
- OpenAlex
- W2956460837
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 5.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Supportive Care in Cancer (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Keywords
- informal caregivers, caregiver quality of life, palliative radiotherapy, advanced cancer, caregiver burden, caregiver support services, caregiver employment, cohabitation, performance status, lung cancer, prostate cancer
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Palliative Care, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Multivariate Analysis, Linear Models, Caregivers, Spouses
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