Supporting the Supporters: What are the Unmet Needs and Quality of Life of Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Singapore?

Chua Gek Phin, Ng Quan Sing, T. H. Khoon, O. W. Sze
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Abstract

Background: Caregivers of cancer patients may assume diverse responsibilities during the patient’s cancer trajectory, providing physical assistance, emotional and financial support. These responsibilities can be highly demanding, emotionally stressful and financially draining and can impact on the caregivers’ quality of life (QOL). This study aims to determine the unmet needs of caregivers of cancer patients in Singapore and establish if the unmet needs are associated with their QOL in order to guide practice. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 986 caregivers of cancer patients. Determinants of caregivers’ unmet needs and QOL were assessed by the Support Person Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS-SF) and the Singapore version of the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC-S25). Results: The mean overall score of unmet needs was 20.98 ± 20.1. The top 3 items with the highest mean score of unmet needs were all from the “Future” domain viz. “dealing with worry about cancer getting worse” (1.50 ± 1.4), “dealing with not knowing what lies in the future” (1.43 ± 1.3) and “dealing with worry about cancer coming back” (1.20 ± 1.3). Caregivers who were younger, the primary caregivers, caregivers who provided financial assistance to the patients they cared for, caregivers whose health status were made worse by caregiving activities, caregivers who were taking care of female patients, lung cancer patients and patients on palliative care had significantly higher mean overall score of unmet needs. The mean overall QOL score was 71.34 ± 17.5. The overall QOL scores were negatively correlated with the overall scores of unmet needs. There were significant negative correlation between QOL and all domains of unmet needs. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that caregivers of cancer have many unmet needs and these unmet needs have a significant negative effect on their QOL. Thus, addressing their unmet needs is critical to enhance their coping skills and ultimately their QOL.
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支持支持者:新加坡癌症患者护理人员的未满足需求和生活质量是什么?
背景:癌症患者的护理人员可能在患者癌症发展过程中承担不同的责任,提供身体帮助、情感和经济支持。这些责任可能要求很高,情绪紧张,经济枯竭,并可能影响照顾者的生活质量。本研究旨在确定新加坡癌症患者护理人员的未满足需求,并确定未满足需求是否与他们的生活质量相关,以指导实践。方法:对986名癌症患者的护理人员进行横断面调查。护理人员未满足的需求和生活质量的决定因素通过支持人员未满足需求调查(SPUN-SF)和新加坡版护理人员生活质量指数-癌症(CQOLC-S25)进行评估。结果:未满足需求的平均总分为20.98±20.1。未满足需求平均得分最高的前三项均来自“未来”领域,即“应对对癌症恶化的担忧”(1.50±1.4)、“应对不知道未来会发生什么”(1.43±1.3)和“应对对癌症卷土重来的担忧”,为其护理的患者提供经济援助的护理人员、因护理活动而使健康状况恶化的护理人员,照顾女性患者的护理人员以及癌症患者和接受姑息治疗的患者的未满足需求的平均总分显著更高。平均总生活质量评分为71.34±17.5。生活质量总分与未满足需求总分呈负相关。生活质量与未满足需求的所有领域之间存在显著的负相关。结论:我们的研究结果表明,癌症护理人员有许多未满足的需求,这些未满足的需要对他们的生活质量有显著的负面影响。因此,解决他们未满足的需求对于提高他们的应对技能并最终提高他们的生活质量至关重要。
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