title: Effects of patient and personal demographic, clinical and psychosocial characteristics on the burden of family members caring for patients with advanced cancer in Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Caregiving burden affects the lives of family members providing care to patients with advanced cancer, with a host of factors possibly contributing to this. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of patient and caregiver variables on the perceptions of burden in families caring for a loved one living with advanced cancer in Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 100 pairs of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for advanced cancer and their respective primary family caregivers were consecutively recruited at one radiotherapy centre. Patients and caregivers completed a set of questionnaires during face-to-face interviews. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify potential predictors of caregiving burden.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregiving burden was linked to both patient (gender, age, past surgery or chemotherapy treatment, depression and impact of cancer-related symptoms) and caregiver variables (gender, family status, education, place of residence, previous experience of care, employment status, difficulty of caregiving, anxiety and depression). In multiple regression analyses, caregiving burden was significantly predicted by caregivers' depressed mood, perceived difficulty of caregiving, family status, employment status, as well as by patients' past surgery, in a model that explained 49% of the total variance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greek family caregivers reporting greater depressive mood and difficulty with caregiving tasks, those married, those not employed, and those who cared for patients who had not undergone surgery were found at greater distress and disadvantage. Systematic assessment and intervention strategies are required to identify these vulnerable carers and help them cope when sharing in patient's cancer experience.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Agiou Spiridonos 28, 122 10, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: ugovina@teiath.gr.
authors.forename: Ourania
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Govina
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Duke of Kent Building, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7TE, United Kingdom. Electronic address: g.kotronoulas@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Grigorios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kotronoulas
authors.affiliation: Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Korinthias 27, 115 26, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: mistakidou@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Kyriaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mystakidou
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Peloponnese, Orthias Artemidos & Plataion, 23 100, Sparta, Greece. Electronic address: stkats@uop.gr.
authors.forename: Stylianos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsaragakis
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Agiou Spiridonos 28, 122 10, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: evlachou@teiath.gr.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vlachou
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Athens, Papadiamantopoulou 123, 115 27, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: epatiraki@nurs.uoa.gr.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patiraki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Advanced cancer; Caregiver burden; Correlates; Family caregiver; Radiotherapy