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Cited by 0Nursing care and researchCancer survivorship and careFamily Caregiving in Mental Illness

Síndrome de burnout en cuidadores familiares de pacientes oncológicos: revisión sistemática

Open access
Abarca-Obregón, Shirley Gabriela, Quinzo-Paguay, Ximena Avigail, Mayorga-Ortiz, Diego Javier·2026·Sanitas. Revista arbitrada de ciencias de la salud
DOI 10.62574/sanitas.v4iespecial6.013
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Abstract

Objetivo: analizar la evidencia sobre los factores de riesgo, las repercusiones y las estrategias de prevención del síndrome de burnout y la sobrecarga en cuidadores familiares de pacientes oncológicos. Método: revisión sistemática según la declaración PRISMA 2020 de estudios empíricos publicados entre 2020 y 2025 en PubMed, SciELO, DOAJ y Google Académico. Resultados: se incluyeron seis estudios de Colombia, Ecuador, Brasil y España. La sobrecarga moderada a intensa afectó a entre el 50,7 % y el 76 % de los cuidadores, en su mayoría mujeres. Los factores más descritos fueron la falta de formación y de apoyo familiar, las dificultades económicas y el tiempo dedicado al cuidado; la sobrecarga se asoció con peor calidad de vida, ansiedad, insomnio y problemas físicos. Conclusión: el cuidador familiar requiere evaluación sistemática, formación y apoyo psicosocial dentro de la atención oncológica.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This systematic review of six studies found moderate-to-intense burden in 50.7–76% of family caregivers of cancer patients, mostly women, associated with caregiving time, lack of training/family support, and financial difficulties. No included study measured burnout with a specific instrument, so burden figures should not be interpreted as burnout prevalence.

Key findings

  • Six studies (2020–2024) from Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Spain were included: four quantitative cross-sectional and two qualitative; three used the Zarit scale, and none used a specific burnout instrument.
  • Moderate-to-intense burden ranged from 50.7% to 76%; women made up 58.5–100% of samples. Examples: Amador Ahumada et al. found 76% intense burden and 88% women; Vale et al. found 70.7% moderate-to-severe burden and 58.5% women; Jiménez-Sánchez et al. found 50.7% high burden, 80.7% without training, and 77.3% without family help.
  • Most frequently described factors were time spent caregiving, lack of training/experience, absence of family help, and economic difficulties. Amador Ahumada et al. found a positive relation between care duration and burden intensity; Jiménez-Sánchez et al. found care hours associated with family claudication; Vale et al. found no significant correlations with sex, age, or care time, but >90% considered their economic resources insufficient.
  • Consequences included worse quality of life (Arias-Rojas et al.: inverse correlation between burden and quality of life, r = -0.54), fear of the future (90%) and anxiety over lack of resources (70%) in Colombia, and in qualitative studies reorganized life, abandonment of studies or employment, stress, loneliness, low self-esteem, depression, and insomnia; Vale et al. associated burden with shoulder pain and hypertension.

Methods

  • Systematic review following PRISMA 2020; searches in PubMed, SciELO, DOAJ, and Google Scholar for empirical studies published 2020–2025 (abstract; results state included studies were published 2020–2024).
  • Included six studies: four quantitative cross-sectional studies in Colombia, Brazil, and Spain, and two qualitative studies in Colombia and Ecuador. Three assessed burden with the Zarit scale (full or reduced); none applied a specific burnout instrument.
  • Narrative synthesis; heterogeneity of instruments prevented a quantitative synthesis.

Limitations

  • Stated: few included studies, predominance of cross-sectional designs and small samples, instrument heterogeneity preventing quantitative synthesis, and only one Ecuadorian study limiting applicability to the local context.
  • Evident from the text: none of the included studies measured burnout with specific instruments, so reported burden is not equivalent to burnout prevalence; no included study evaluated the efficacy of a concrete intervention.
  • Evident from the text: there is a date-range inconsistency between the abstract (search of studies published 2020–2025) and the results (included studies published 2020–2024).

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.62574/sanitas.v4iespecial6.013

Cites

16 of 16 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

19 of 37 cited sources checked · 13 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Findingcitation

    Qualitative studies described a life reorganized around the patient's needs.

    “Los estudios cualitativos describieron una vida reorganizada en torno a las necesidades del paciente (10)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
  • Findingcitation

    The majority of caregivers were women.

    “en su mayoría mujeres.”
    • Also stated in: § Additional information · plain
      “El perfil del cuidador fue predominantemente femenino, con proporciones de mujeres que oscilaron entre el 58,5 % y el 100 % (8,11,12).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [8]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites [11] source
    • cites [12] source
  • Findingcitation

    Burden was associated with worse quality of life.

    “la sobrecarga se asoció con peor calidad de vida”
    • Also stated in: § Additional information · boosted
      “Arias-Rojas et al. demostraron que, a mayor sobrecarga, menor calidad de vida en todas sus dimensiones (9).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [9] source

      The Abstract reports that greater illness uncertainty was associated with lower quality of life, and that longer time in the caregiver role was associated with lower physical well-being. It does not report an association between caregiver burden (sobrecarga) and quality of life; searches for that association found no supporting passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Interpretationcitation

    The priority areas coincide with the priorities raised by Kent et al. for integrating the caregiver into oncology care.

    “En cuanto a la prevención, estas áreas prioritarias coinciden con las prioridades planteadas por Kent et al. para integrar al cuidador en la atención oncológica (2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
  • Premisecitation

    The Cochrane review by Treanor et al. concluded that observed benefits tend not to be maintained at follow-up.

    “los beneficios observados tienden a no mantenerse en el seguimiento (15).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [15] source

      The Effects of interventions section says a possible slight improvement in caregivers’ quality of life immediately after intervention may not be maintained six to 12 months later. The citing sentence extends that finding to observed benefits generally, whereas the review does not establish the same follow-up pattern across outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.85)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 11
  • May combine two claims. 18

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In Gérain and Zech's model, caregiver characteristics, care context, and sociocultural environment influence burnout through the caregiver's appraisal of their situation and the quality of their relationship with the patient.

    “en este modelo, las características del cuidador, del contexto de cuidado y del entorno sociocultural influyen en el burnout a través de la valoración que el cuidador hace de su situación y de la calidad de su relación con el paciente(5).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    In Ecuador, female caregivers abandoned their studies or employment and reported stress, loneliness, low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and insomnia.

    “en el Ecuador, cuidadoras que abandonaron sus estudios o su empleo y refirieron estrés, soledad, baja autoestima, síntomas depresivos e insomnio (11)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Gérain and Zech proposed a theoretical framework for informal caregiver burnout, defined by emotional exhaustion in the caregiving situation, affective distancing from the care recipient, and loss of sense of achievement.

    “Gérain y Zech propusieron un marco teórico para comprender el burnout del cuidador informal, definido por el agotamiento emocional frente a la situación de cuidado, el distanciamiento afectivo de la persona cuidada y la pérdida del sentido de logro”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Geng et al. identified as associated factors burden, care duration, economic difficulties, female sex, and lack of social support.

    “señalaron como factores asociados la sobrecarga, la duración del cuidado, las dificultades económicas, el sexo femenino y la escasez de apoyo social (6).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In a meta-analysis of 30 studies with more than 21,000 caregivers of cancer patients, Geng et al. estimated a prevalence of depression of 42.3% and anxiety of 46.6%.

    “En un metaanálisis de 30 estudios con más de 21 000 cuidadores de pacientes con cáncer, Geng et al. estimaron una prevalencia de depresión del 42,3 % y de ansiedad del 46,6 %”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    The review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 statement recommendations.

    “revisión sistemática según la declaración PRISMA 2020”
    • Also stated in: § RESULTADOS · plain
      “Se realizó una revisión sistemática siguiendo las recomendaciones de la declaración PRISMA 2020(7).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [7] source

      The Abstract identifies PRISMA 2020 as a guideline with recommendations for reporting systematic reviews. The 'Scope of the guideline' section explicitly says it is not intended to guide how a systematic review is conducted, so the source supports following PRISMA 2020 for reporting, but not the claim's wording about conduct. (LLM, conf=0.86)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The identified risk factors (time of care, lack of training, absence of family help, economic difficulties) coincide with the determinants described by Geng et al. and with the Gérain and Zech model.

    “Los factores de riesgo identificados, como el tiempo de cuidado, la falta de formación, la ausencia de ayuda familiar y las dificultades económicas, coinciden con los determinantes descritos por Geng et al. (6) y con el modelo de Gérain y Zech”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim2 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [6] source

      The Results and Conclusion (pages not provided) associate depressive symptoms with longer caregiving duration and financial problems, and report an association with lower social support. They do not specifically identify absence of family help or lack of caregiver training as determinants: the Discussion recommends training, while the reported association concerns education level. This verdict addresses the comparison with Geng et al., not the separate Gérain and Zech model. (LLM, conf=0.87)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites [5] source

      In the Introduction’s Informal Caregiving Integrative Model (page not available), Gérain and Zech describe informal support as protective and financial strain as associated with greater burden and burnout. The same section says caregiving duration has no apparent relationship with burnout and weekly care time shows a similar pattern, so it does not support treating care time as an established risk factor. No passage found identifies lack of training as a determinant. (LLM, conf=0.88)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • Rests on an assumption: The factors associated with burden in the included studies are risk factors (causal determinants) for burden, not merely correlates.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    The Cochrane review by Treanor et al. concluded that evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in these caregivers is still limited and of low quality.

    “la revisión Cochrane de Treanor et al. concluyó que la evidencia sobre la eficacia de las intervenciones psicosociales en estos cuidadores es todavía limitada y de baja calidad”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    These results agree with international evidence that describes effects of caregiving on the physical and psychological health of the caregiver and a high prevalence of depression and anxiety in this population.

    “Estos resultados concuerdan con la evidencia internacional, que describe efectos del cuidado sobre la salud física y psicológica del cuidador (3) y una elevada prevalencia de depresión y ansiedad en esta población (6).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim2 of 2 sources checked

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Burden and burnout are related but not equivalent, since burnout also comprises affective distancing and a sense of inefficacy.

    “Aunque ambos constructos están relacionados, no son equivalentes, ya que el burnout comprende además el distanciamiento afectivo y la sensación de ineficacia (4,5).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [4] source
    • cites [5] source

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The results from Ecuador indicate that care can involve giving up studies or employment, which aggravates the family's economic vulnerability.

    “Los resultados del Ecuador, aunque procedentes de un estudio cualitativo con pocas participantes, indican que el cuidado puede implicar la renuncia a los estudios o al empleo, lo que agrava la vulnerabilidad económica de la familia (11).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The meta-analysis by Northouse et al. showed that psychoeducational, skill-building, and counseling interventions directed at caregivers of cancer patients reduce burden and improve coping, self-efficacy, and quality of life, with small to moderate effect sizes.

    “El metaanálisis de Northouse et al. mostró que las intervenciones psicoeducativas, de desarrollo de habilidades y de asesoramiento dirigidas a los cuidadores de pacientes con cáncer reducen la sobrecarga y mejoran el afrontamiento, la autoeficacia y la calidad de vida, con efectos de magnitud pequeña a moderada (14).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [14] source

      The Abstract and Discussion report that psychoeducational, skills-training, and counseling interventions reduced caregiver burden and improved coping and self-efficacy, with small to moderate effects. The Discussion’s Clinical Application of Findings section says specific components of quality of life improved, but overall quality of life did not; the claim omits that distinction. (LLM, conf=0.89)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Four included studies had a quantitative cross-sectional design, conducted in Colombia, Brazil, and Spain.

    “cuatro con diseño cuantitativo transversal, realizados en Colombia, Brasil y España”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingcitation

    More than 90% of caregivers considered their economic resources insufficient to cover care expenses.

    “más del 90 % de los cuidadores consideró insuficientes sus recursos económicos para cubrir los gastos del cuidado (12)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [12] source

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    In Colombia, fear of the future, fear of not providing good care, and anxiety due to lack of resources predominated.

    “En Colombia predominaron el miedo al futuro, el temor a no brindar un buen cuidado y la ansiedad por la falta de recursos (8)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [8]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    The included studies were from Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Spain.

    “se incluyeron seis estudios de Colombia, Ecuador, Brasil y España.”
    • Also stated in: § RESULTADOS · plain
      “cuatro con diseño cuantitativo transversal, realizados en Colombia, Brasil y España, y dos con enfoque cualitativo, realizados en Colombia y Ecuador.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Two included studies had a qualitative approach, conducted in Colombia and Ecuador.

    “dos con enfoque cualitativo, realizados en Colombia y Ecuador.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The most frequently described factors associated with burden were time spent caring, lack of training and prior experience, absence of family help, and economic difficulties.

    “Los factores asociados con la sobrecarga que se describieron con mayor frecuencia fueron el tiempo dedicado al cuidado, la falta de formación y de experiencia previa, la ausencia de ayuda familiar y las dificultades económicas.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    Vale et al. found no significant correlations between burden and sex, age, or care time.

    “Vale et al. no hallaron correlaciones significativas entre la sobrecarga y el sexo, la edad o el tiempo de cuidado”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [12] source

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    The reviewed studies show that burden is a frequent and intense experience among family caregivers of cancer patients in Latin America and Spain, with proportions of moderate to intense burden greater than half of the evaluated samples.

    “Los estudios revisados muestran que la sobrecarga es una experiencia frecuente e intensa entre los cuidadores familiares de pacientes oncológicos de América Latina y de España, con proporciones de sobrecarga moderada a intensa superiores a la mitad de las muestras evaluadas (8,12,13).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [8]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites [12] source
    • cites [13] source
    • Rests on an assumption: The included studies are representative of family caregivers of cancer patients in Latin America and Spain.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    Jiménez-Sánchez et al. observed that most caregivers lacked training and family support.

    “Jiménez-Sánchez et al. observaron que la mayoría de los cuidadores carecía de formación y de apoyo familiar”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [13] source

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given

    The available evidence indicates that family caregivers of cancer patients, mostly women, frequently present moderate to intense burden, associated with time spent caring, lack of training, lack of family support, and economic difficulties, and with repercussions on their quality of life and physical and mental health.

    “La evidencia disponible indica que los cuidadores familiares de pacientes oncológicos, en su mayoría mujeres, presentan con frecuencia una sobrecarga moderada a intensa, asociada con el tiempo dedicado al cuidado, la falta de formación, la escasez de apoyo familiar y las dificultades económicas, y con repercusiones sobre su calidad de vida y su salud física y mental.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The factors associated with burden in the included studies are risk factors (causal determinants) for burden, not merely correlates.
    • Rests on an assumption: The included studies are representative of family caregivers of cancer patients in Latin America and Spain.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The burnout syndrome was initially described in the workplace as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or cynicism, and reduced personal accomplishment.

    “El síndrome de burnout fue descrito inicialmente en el ámbito laboral como una respuesta prolongada a estresores interpersonales crónicos, caracterizada por agotamiento emocional, despersonalización o cinismo y disminución de la realización personal (4).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [4] source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Information on the Latin American and Ecuadorian context is dispersed.

    “Sin embargo, la información sobre el contexto latinoamericano y ecuatoriano se encuentra dispersa.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Burden figures should not be interpreted as prevalence of burnout.

    “Por ello, las cifras de sobrecarga no deben interpretarse como prevalencias de burnout”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    Cross-sectional designs and small samples predominated.

    “predominaron los diseños transversales y las muestras pequeñas”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    Only one study was conducted in Ecuador, which limits the application of the findings to the local context.

    “solo un estudio se realizó en el Ecuador, lo que limita la aplicación de los hallazgos al contexto local.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
27 of 27

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The factors associated with burden in the included studies are risk factors (causal determinants) for burden, not merely correlates.

    “Los factores de riesgo identificados, como el tiempo de cuidado, la falta de formación, la ausencia de ayuda familiar y las dificultades económicas, coinciden con los determinantes descritos por Geng et al.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The included studies are representative of family caregivers of cancer patients in Latin America and Spain.

    “Los estudios revisados muestran que la sobrecarga es una experiencia frecuente e intensa entre los cuidadores familiares de pacientes oncológicos de América Latina y de España”
2 of 2

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Amador Ahumada C, Puello Alcocer EC, Valencia Jiménez NN. Características psicoafectivas y sobrecarga de los cuidadores informales de pacientes oncológicos terminales en Montería, Colombia. Rev Cubana Salud Pública. 2020;46(1):e1463.

Authors
Abarca-Obregón, S. G., Quinzo-Paguay, X. A., & Mayorga-Ortiz, D. J.
Affiliations
Universidad Regional Autónoma de Los Andes (EC)
ORCID
Venue
Sanitas. Revista arbitrada de ciencias de la salud
Publisher
Instituto de Investigación Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Globales
Published
2026-10-01
Volume
4
Issue
especial6
Pages
85-91
ISSN
3028-8738 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.62574/sanitas.v4iespecial6.013
OpenAlex
W7220657729
Semantic Scholar
ecdb73c0558724fe95479d3e17c8ff5ccf1e16f1
Cited by
0
References
14
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Open access
Licence
Locations
Sanitas. Revista arbitrada de ciencias de la salud. (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Caregiving in Mental Illness
Keywords
burnout, family caregivers, cancer patients, caregiver burden, risk factors, quality of life, anxiety, insomnia, caregiver education, psychosocial support, economic hardship

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