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Caregiver burden in end-of-life care: Advanced cancer and final stage of dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

Gema Costa-Requena ,
MaCarmen Espinosa Val  and
Ramon Cristòfol
Gema Costa-Requena*
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychologist. Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, CIBERSAM, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
MaCarmen Espinosa Val
Affiliation:
Medical Degree. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Antic Hospital Sant Jaume i Santa Magdalena, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain
Ramon Cristòfol
Affiliation:
Medical Degree. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Antic Hospital Sant Jaume i Santa Magdalena, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Gema Costa-Requena, Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Passeig Vall d'Hebron, 119-129, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: gcosta@vhebron.net.
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Abstract

Objective:

Considering two advanced illnesses, cancer and end-stage dementia, the aim of this study was to describe the symptoms of caregiver psychological distress and burden.

Method:

In this cross-sectional study, regression analyses were calculated to explain the influence of psychological distress in caregiver burden. A t test was employed to compare differences between the symptoms of caregiver burden.

Results:

The percentage of psychological distress was similar between caregivers of cancer patients (77.6%) and caregivers of dementia patients (72.4%). In the regression analysis, cancer caregiver distress accounted for 27.9% of the variance in symptoms of burden, while dementia caregiver distress accounted for 24.4% of the variance in symptoms of burden. No significant differences were revealed when comparing caregiver burden symptoms between caregivers of the two advanced illnesses (t = 0.06; p = 0.94).

Significance of Results:

In end-of-life care for patients with dementia, due to significant levels of caregiver distress and burden symptoms, there is a need to support caregivers in the same way as is done for caregivers of cancer patients.

Keywords

Caregiver distressCaregiver burdenAdvanced cancerDementiaPalliative care
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 583 - 589
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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