What is it about?
The terminal phase of cancer is a major family crisis with impact on all family members. The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of psychological morbidity in family caregivers of individuals with terminal cancer in terms of psychological distress, depression, anxiety, somatization and complicated anticipatory grief, and to determine which factors may influence these responses.
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Why is it important?
This study revealed an alarming prevalence of psychological morbidity in family caregivers of individuals living with terminal cancer: 66.1% reported high levels of distress, 68.8% showed high risk of depression, 72.3% showed high risk of anxiety, 50.9% reported high levels of somatization and 25.9% showed high risk of complicated anticipatory grief. As for the predictors, it was found that age, gender, relationship to the family member with terminal cancer, the caregiving role played (i.e., primary vs. non-primary), the satisfaction of needs by healthcare professionals, and family functioning play an important role in terms of one’s risk of developing psychological morbidity.
Perspectives
It is crucial to move forward from a patient-centred approach to a family-centred approach in order to reduce the risk of family maladjustment when facing the imminent death of a family member and to prevent post-death unadjusted responses.
Dr Neide P Areia
Centre for Social Studies - University of Coimbra
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Psychological morbidity in family caregivers of people living with terminal cancer: Prevalence and predictors, Palliative & Supportive Care, February 2018, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1478951518000044.
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