Investigation of the Relationship between Care Giving Burden and Quality of Life of Caregivers of Cancer Patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND We wanted to evaluate the effect of caregiver burden on quality of life of the cancer patient caregivers. METHODS This research was conducted as an analytical cross-sectional study. The study population comprised of caregivers of patients, who were receiving treatment in the chemotherapy unit of a branch hospital. 466 caregivers who participated in the study comprised the sample of the research. The research data was collected using “Demographic Data Form”, “Zarit Burden Interview”, and “Caregiver Quality of Life Scale-Cancer”. RESULTS Among the participants, 71.2 % were females and average age was 44.80 ± 13.76. It was concluded that certain qualifications of the caregivers such as educational status, income levels, another family member with cancer diagnosis, and having support in caregiving process affected the quality of life of the caregivers. Burden scale score was 32.41, and quality of life scale score was 89.83. It was determined that there was a negative and strong relationship between the burden scale and quality of life scale. Presence of another individual with cancer in the family, receiving support, conditions arising from the caregiving process, such as affected health, having marital difficulties were found to affect the burden of caregiving. CONCLUSIONS It was determined that there was a negative, strong relationship between the caregiver burden and quality of life. In line with these results, it is suggested that interventional and qualitative studies should be conducted on the caregivers in order to define their caregiver burden and evaluate their lifestyles. KEY WORDS Cancer, Care Giver, Burden, Quality of Life