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Cited by 44Nursing care and researchCancer survivorship and careFamily Support in Illness

Assessment of burden and coping strategies among caregivers of cancer patients in sub-Saharan Africa

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Akpan-Idiok, Paulina Ackley, Ehiemere, Ijeoma Onyekachi, Asuquo, Ekaete Francis, Chabo, Joy Awu Ukeunim, Osuchukwu, Easter Chukwudi·2020·World Journal of Clinical Oncology
DOI 10.5306/wjco.v11.i12.1045PMC PMC7769710
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a devastating and debilitating chronic disease that affects both patients and family members. Available evidence has confirmed that the care of chronically ill relatives by family members can be very challenging. This is because caregiving of cancer patients often presents a high level of burden on the caregivers. Consequently, this leads to a necessity to adopt coping mechanisms to cushion the effect of the burden experienced during caregiving. AIM: To determine the burden experienced and coping strategies among caregivers of advanced cancer patients attending University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Cross River State, Nigeria. METHODS: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design and the study population included informal family caregivers providing services to histologically diagnosed advanced cancer patients receiving treatment at the UCTH at the time of this survey. A researcher-developed structured questionnaire, a 22-item standardized validated Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and a modified 17-item Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory were used to collect data from 250 eligible informal caregivers who were selected with regard to caregiver's characteristics, caregivers' level of burden and caregiver's coping strategies, respectively. Data gathered from the respondents were collated, coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 24.0) software and Predictive Analytical Software (PAS version 19.0). Chi-square was used to test for association between categorical variables at the 0.05 level of significance. The results are presented in tables and charts. RESULTS: = 0.000) were statistically significantly associated with caregivers' coping strategies. CONCLUSION: There is great recognition of the role of informal caregivers in improving the health of their relatives and family members who are chronically ill. It was recommended that support groups in collaboration with health care providers should organize a symposium for informal caregivers on the intricacies of caregiving in chronically ill patients. This would create a platform for experience sharing, information dissemination and health care professional-caregiver interaction to enhance positive caregiving outcomes.

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  • Emotion-based coping has been associated with post-traumatic growth among caregivers of cancer patients.

    “whereas emotion-based coping has been associated with post-traumatic growth among caregivers of cancer patients (Akpan-Idiok et al., 2020; Teixeira et al., 2018).”

    From Support based on psychoeducation intervention to address quality of life and care burden among caregivers of patients with cancer: a randomized controlled trial (2025) · cites this paper as Akpan-Idiok et al., 2020

    The Results (Table 2; page not provided) describe emotion-focused coping among cancer caregivers and include positive changes such as becoming stronger and more able to face future challenges. The paper does not identify these changes as post-traumatic growth or report an association between emotion-focused coping and that outcome. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Problem-based coping has been linked to reduced levels of caregiving burden, depressive symptoms, and better adaptation among caregivers of cancer patients.

    “Problem-based coping has been linked to reduced levels of caregiving burden, depressive symptoms, and better adaptation”

    From Support based on psychoeducation intervention to address quality of life and care burden among caregivers of patients with cancer: a randomized controlled trial (2025) · cites this paper as Akpan-Idiok et al., 2020

    The Discussion says more effective coping strategies are associated with less caregiving burden, and Table 2 describes adjustment and acceptance under problem-focused coping (page numbers unavailable). The paper does not link problem-focused coping specifically to reduced depressive symptoms; its mentions of depression concern caregiving distress, not the effects of coping. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The prevalence of caregiver burden among family caregivers of cancer patients in general using the ZBI-22 cutoff point of 21 ranged widely from 37 to 82% in other studies.

    “The prevalence of CB among FCs of cancer patients in general using the ZBI-22 cutoff point of 21 ranged widely from 37 to 82% in other studies [9, 20–25].”

    From Caregiver burden among family caregivers of incurable cancer patients in two eastern Mediterranean countries (2021) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Results section (page unavailable) uses a 22-item Zarit scale and places scores of 21 or higher in burden categories. Its reported counts imply 173 of 210 caregivers (82.4%) met that threshold. The paper does not report a 37% prevalence or establish a 37–82% range across studies. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Using the 10 outcome events per predictor variable rule and considering a 70% prevalence of caregiver burden using the ZBI-22 cutoff score of 21, at least 214 participants were needed for logistic regression analysis including 15 predictor variables.

    “Using the 10 outcome events per predictor variable (EPV) rule and considering a 70% prevalence of CB using the ZBI-22 cutoff score of 21 [20–24], at least 214 participants were needed for logistic regression analysis including 15 predictor variables.”

    From Caregiver burden among family caregivers of incurable cancer patients in two eastern Mediterranean countries (2021) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Instruments used for data collection section (page unavailable) defines ZBI-22 scores of 0–20 as little or no burden and 21–30 as mild burden, supporting a cutoff of 21. The Results section (page unavailable) reports 46.2% with severe and 36.2% with moderate burden—82.4% combined, not 70%. The paper does not provide the citing authors’ 214-participant logistic-regression calculation. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Previous studies have established a significant correlation between levels of caregiving burden and coping strategies.

    “Previous studies have established a significant correlation between levels of caregiving burden and coping strategies.”

    From Support based on psychoeducation intervention to address quality of life and care burden among caregivers of patients with cancer: a randomized controlled trial (2025) · cites this paper as Akpan-Idiok et al., 2020

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Akpan-Idiok, P. A., Ehiemere, I. O., Asuquo, E. F., Chabo, J. A. U., & Osuchukwu, E. C.
Affiliations
University of Nigeria (NG)
ORCID
Asuquo, Ekaete Francis
Venue
World Journal of Clinical Oncology
Publisher
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
Published
2020-12-24
Volume
11
Issue
12
Pages
1045-1063
ISSN
2218-4333 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.5306/wjco.v11.i12.1045
PMC
PMC7769710
OpenAlex
W3117286734
Cited by
44
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3
FWCI
6.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • World Journal of Clinical Oncology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Family Support in Illness
Keywords
caregiver burden, coping strategies, informal caregivers, advanced cancer, family caregiving, Zarit Burden Interview, COPE Inventory, sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria

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