Informal caregiving in head and neck cancer: caregiving activities and psychological well-being.
The purpose of this study was to quantify the general cancer support activities that long-term carers of head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors engage in; and the relationships between these care activities and psychological well-being. Respondents answered a survey detailing their caring activities, the amount of time that they spent on those activities and how comfortable they felt engaging in them. Psychological well-being was assessed by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. A total of 197 carers took part in the study. The majority (76%) were women, mean age 57.4. Mean time since diagnosis was 6.2 years. In the past month, 45% of carers did not spend any extra time per week helping their relative/friend with general caring activities such as cleaning the house; 31% spent 1-19 hr/week and 23% spent 20 or more hours/week doing so. Most carers were comfortable assisting their relative/friend, though more carers felt uncomfortable assisting with HNC-specific support tasks (31% uncomfortable helping with medication) compared with general support tasks (7% uncomfortable helping with appointments). Feeling uncomfortable with head and neck-specific care tasks was a significant predictor of experiencing depression and anxiety.
National Cancer Registry of Ireland, Cork Airport Business Park, Cork, Ireland.
M
M
Balfe
National Cancer Registry of Ireland, Cork Airport Business Park, Cork, Ireland.
K M
KM
O'Brien
National Cancer Registry of Ireland, Cork Airport Business Park, Cork, Ireland.
A
A
Timmons
Centre for Medical Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
P
P
Butow
School of Dentistry, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
E
E
O'Sullivan
Musculskeletal Research Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
R
R
Gooberman-Hill
National Cancer Registry of Ireland, Cork Airport Business Park, Cork, Ireland.
L
L
Sharp
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology
anxiety; burden; cancer; carer; depression; head; neck; stress; survivor; time