title: Mental and physical health correlates among family caregivers of patients with newly-diagnosed incurable cancer: a hierarchical linear regression analysis.
abstract: Caregiver, relational, and patient factors have been associated with the health of family members and friends providing care to patients with early-stage cancer. Little research has examined whether findings extend to family caregivers of patients with incurable cancer, who experience unique and substantial caregiving burdens. We examined correlates of mental and physical health among caregivers of patients with newly-diagnosed incurable lung or non-colorectal gastrointestinal cancer.
  
  
  
  At baseline for a trial of early palliative care, caregivers of participating patients (N = 275) reported their mental and physical health (Medical Outcome Survey-Short Form-36); patients reported their quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General). Analyses used hierarchical linear regression with two-tailed significance tests.
  
  
  
  Caregivers' mental health was worse than the U.S. national population (M = 44.31, p < .001), yet their physical health was better (M = 56.20, p < .001). Hierarchical regression analyses testing caregiver, relational, and patient factors simultaneously revealed that younger (B = 0.31, p = .001), spousal caregivers (B = -8.70, p = .003), who cared for patients reporting low emotional well-being (B = 0.51, p = .01) reported worse mental health; older (B = -0.17, p = .01) caregivers with low educational attainment (B = 4.36, p < .001) who cared for patients reporting low social well-being (B = 0.35, p = .05) reported worse physical health.
  
  
  
  In this large sample of family caregivers of patients with incurable cancer, caregiver demographics, relational factors, and patient-specific factors were all related to caregiver mental health, while caregiver demographics were primarily associated with caregiver physical health. These findings help identify characteristics of family caregivers at highest risk of poor mental and physical health who may benefit from greater supportive care.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shaffer
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Jamie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Nipp
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Alaina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Vicki A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Elyse R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Pirl
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Areej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Jawahri
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Emily R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Greer
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. jtemel@partners.org.|Division of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 7B, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. jtemel@partners.org.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Temel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Incurable cancer; Informal caregiving; Mental health; Palliative care; Physical health