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Quality of life and mental health in family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

The burden of serving as a caregiver is known to impair quality of life (QOL) and mental health caregivers of cancer patients. However, few studies focused on the caregivers of terminal cancer patients. Furthermore, none has compared them with those of general population.

Methods

We surveyed the family caregivers of terminal cancer patients who received palliative care services in Korea. Control individuals were selected from participants in the first round of the fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and were matched with family caregivers using the propensity score method to optimize our comparative analysis.

Results

Health-related QOL was significantly lower in the caregiver group than in the controls. Caregivers experienced more frequent episodes of depression during the previous year than did controls (36.3% vs. 12.4%, P < 0.0001). Caregiver burden, such as “impact on health,” “financial problems,” and “lack of family support” had a negative influence on the health-related QOL and mental health. However, “disrupted schedule” had a positive influence on the QOL and mental health.

Discussion

Our results show that the family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer experience mental health problems and deterioration of health-related QOL. Culturally appropriate caregiver support programs are needed to decrease the impact of caregiving on the QOL and mental health of family caregivers in Korea.

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Conflict of interest

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea

    Jong Im Song

  2. Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehangno, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 110-744, Republic of Korea

    Dong Wook Shin

  3. National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 410-769, Republic of Korea

    Jin Young Choi, Jina Kang, Young Ji Baik & Hana Mo

  4. Gangnam St. Mary Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Myung Hee Park

  5. Good Samaritan Hospital, Pohang, Republic of Korea

    Sung Eun Choi

  6. Changwon Fatima Hospital, Changwon, Republic of Korea

    Jeong Ho Kwak

  7. Daegu Veteran’s Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea

    Eun Jin Kim

Authors
  1. Jong Im Song
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  2. Dong Wook Shin
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  3. Jin Young Choi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dong Wook Shin.

Additional information

This work was supported by Grant of the National R&D program for cancer control, No. 0920350.

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Song, J.I., Shin, D.W., Choi, J.Y. et al. Quality of life and mental health in family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer. Support Care Cancer 19, 1519–1526 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0977-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0977-8

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