BACKGROUND: There are increasing numbers of cancer patients with brain metastases, and there is a high potential for caregiving burden. Little work has explored caregiving responsibilities and psychosocial well-being in informal family caregivers (FCGs) of cancer patients with brain metastases. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature. METHODS: Data were drawn from baseline pilot study data. Caregivers completed demographic information and provided a self-report of their caring responsibilities and psychosocial well-being via questionnaire. RESULTS: Participants were 21 FCGs of patients with brain metastases. Many caregivers are devoting extensive time to providing care; there was high variability in the number and types of caregiving activities reported. Although many caregivers report feeling well supported, other aspects of psychosocial well-being were less robust, including anxiety, depression, burden, and coping self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Although FCGs reported mitigating factors such as social support, they still experience significant distress. Findings support previous work suggesting that neuro-oncology caregiving is burdensome, with adverse effects on health and well-being. Foundational work, such as this, will set the stage to identify areas for future intervention.
BACKGROUND: There are increasing numbers of cancer patients with brain metastases, and there is a high potential for caregiving burden. Little work has explored caregiving responsibilities and psychosocial well-being in informal family caregivers (FCGs) of cancer patients with brain metastases. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature. METHODS: Data were drawn from baseline pilot study data. Caregivers completed demographic information and provided a self-report of their caring responsibilities and psychosocial well-being via questionnaire. RESULTS: Participants were 21 FCGs of patients with brain metastases. Many caregivers are devoting extensive time to providing care; there was high variability in the number and types of caregiving activities reported. Although many caregivers report feeling well supported, other aspects of psychosocial well-being were less robust, including anxiety, depression, burden, and coping self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Although FCGs reported mitigating factors such as social support, they still experience significant distress. Findings support previous work suggesting that neuro-oncology caregiving is burdensome, with adverse effects on health and well-being. Foundational work, such as this, will set the stage to identify areas for future intervention.
Authors: Kristen L Triebel; Adam Gerstenecker; Karen Meneses; John B Fiveash; Christina A Meyers; Gary Cutter; Daniel C Marson; Roy C Martin; Amanda Eakin; Olivia Watts; Louis B Nabors Journal: Psychooncology Date: 2015-01-23 Impact factor: 3.894
Authors: Adam Gerstenecker; Louis B Nabors; Karen Meneses; John B Fiveash; Daniel C Marson; Gary Cutter; Roy C Martin; Christina A Meyers; Kristen L Triebel Journal: J Neurooncol Date: 2014-07-18 Impact factor: 4.130
Authors: Daniel N Cagney; Allison M Martin; Paul J Catalano; Amanda J Redig; Nancy U Lin; Eudocia Q Lee; Patrick Y Wen; Ian F Dunn; Wenya Linda Bi; Stephanie E Weiss; Daphne A Haas-Kogan; Brian M Alexander; Ayal A Aizer Journal: Neuro Oncol Date: 2017-10-19 Impact factor: 12.300