Dyspnea and quality of life indicators in hospice patients and their caregivers.
This study describe the assessment of dyspnea, symptom distress, and quality of life measures in 163 hospice patients with cancer who reported dyspnea. Mean age of the hospice patient sample was 70.22 years and 61.86 for caregivers (65% were spouses). The majority of patients and caregivers were white: 87%, 63% of the patients were male while 78% of caregivers were female. Mean dyspnea intensity as reported by patients was 4.52 (SD 2.29) and caregivers, 4.39 (SD 2.93). Patients' and caregivers' ratings of the patient's dyspnea intensity revealed no significant differences in ratings thus verifying that caregivers can assess dyspnea severity accurately. Patients' perceived quality of life ratings were not significantly correlated with ratings of their caregivers' perceived quality of life. For patients, symptom distress and education were significant predictors of variance in quality of life (R2 =.35, p =.04). However, mastery, symptom distress, age, and education were found to be significant predictors of variance in quality of life of caregivers (R2 =.40, p =.02).
University of South Florida, College of Nursing,12901 Bruce B, Downs Blvd., MDC 22, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. lmoody@hsc.usf.edu
Linda E
LE
Moody
Susan
S
McMillan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric