There is increased anxiety and depression among family caregivers who do not take care of themselves, according to a study to be presented at the 2016 ASCO Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
Nearly a quarter of 294 caregivers of Medicare patients with advanced cancer reported high depression scores (23%) and 34% reported borderline or high anxiety scores. Worse caregiver anxiety, depression, and mental health–related quality of life scores were significantly associated with lower scores in every self-care measure (P less than .05 for all). Lower self-care behavior scores were associated with longer durations, higher hours, and more days/week of caregiving and with fair or poor patient health.
The cross-sectional survey was conducted in community settings of eight cancer centers in Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee. The family caregivers of Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with pancreatic, lung, brain, ovarian, head & neck, hematologic, or stage IV cancer completed measures of self-care behaviors, including health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, stress management, and sleep. Caregivers averaged 66 years and were mostly female (72.8%), white (91.2%), Protestant (76.2%), retired (54.4%), and patients’ spouse/partner (60.2%). Approximately half were rural dwellers (46.9%) and had incomes less than $50,000 (53.8%). The majority provided support 6-7 days per week (71%) for greater than 1 year (68%).
“This research serves as an important call to action for the oncology community to implement support networks and services that care for the caregiver,” ASCO representative Andrew Epstein, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, said in a written statement ahead of the symposium.
“We hope our research rallies the oncology palliative care communities to develop assessment tools and services that support caregivers,” lead author James Nicholas Dionne-Odom, PhD, RN, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in the statement.
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