Lower sense of coherence, negative religious coping, and disease severity as indicators of a decrease in quality of life in Iranian family caregivers of relatives with breast cancer during the first 6 months after diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer challenges not only the patients who suffer from the disease but also their family caregivers. Little is known about how Iranian family caregivers are influenced.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to describe quality of life (QoL), well-being, sense of coherence (SOC), spirituality, and religious coping in family caregivers of patients with breast cancer at the time of diagnosis (T1) and 6 months after diagnosis (T2) and identify predictive factors of change in QoL.
METHODS: Data were collected from 150 family caregivers. The Persian version of Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer, Sense of Coherence Scale, Spirituality Perspective Scale, Religious Coping Scale, and the Health Index were used at T1 and T2.
RESULTS: The results showed significant increase in overall QoL (P = .00) and well-being (P = .03) at T2. However, ratings of their SOC (P = .03), spirituality (P = .01), and negative religious coping (P = .00) decreased. Multiple regression analyses revealed the rating of QoL at T1 as the strongest predictor in the rating of quality-of-life change at T2 followed by the degree of SOC, negative religious coping, and patients having more severe breast cancer (R² = 0.64).
CONCLUSION: Despite improved QoL in the sample from diagnosis to 6 months, family caregivers struggle to cope with the situation. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: It is suggested to develop and investigate the effects of support programs targeting coping ability in Iranian family caregivers to women with breast cancer.