Caregiver distress in the early phases of cancer.
BACKGROUND
Principal caregivers (PCs) of cancer patients experience high levels of stress that may significantly impact their quality of life (QoL). PCs' QoL during early phases of the disease (when patients were still on chemotherapy) were assessed.


METHODS
The PCs of all patients meeting the inclusion criteria (chemotherapy, performance status 0/1) treated at our institution between June 2007 and March 2008 were asked to answer a dedicated questionnaire.


RESULTS
One hundred and four PC-patient pairs participated in the study. Most of the caregivers (52%) spent more than 8 h daily caring for the patient, they also frequently reported the occurrence of new psychosomatic disorders, with the most reported symptoms being sleep disruption (24%), headaches (20%) and asthenia (16%). High levels of anxiety and depression were demonstrated in nearly a quarter of the study subjects. In nearly half of the cases, a substantial increase in monthly family expenses and restriction of recreation activities were reported. The overall gravity of the medical situation was perceived as severe by 86% of the PCs.


CONCLUSIONS
Demonstrable PC QoL impairment occurs even at early phases of disease, therefore intervention strategies for caregivers should be considered early during cancer treatment.
Medical Oncology Unit, Tor Vergata Clinical Center, University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Rachela
R
Pellegrino
Vincenzo
V
Formica
Ilaria
I
Portarena
Sabrina
S
Mariotti
Italia
I
Grenga
Girolamo
G
Del Monte
Mario
M
Roselli
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult