Date of Award

12-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MS in Epidemiology & Biostatistics

First Advisor

Dr. Tazeen Saeed Ali

Second Advisor

Dr. Shafquat Rozi

Third Advisor

Dr. Atif Waqar

Department

Community Health Sciences

Abstract

Background: Caregivers are the ones responsible for caring for a person who is sick and needs assistance and follow specific instructions provided by the healthcare professionals overseeing the patient's treatment. Caregivers have a huge impact on their mental health which is appearing as a global challenge and is increasing worldwide. Knowing the intensity and severity of burden among caregivers of palliative and non-palliative cancer patients earlier, will allow their specific needs to be assessed to determine what supportive services could be offered to caregivers by healthcare professionals and as a result improve their health and quality of life. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to estimate the burden and difference in burden among caregivers of palliative compared to non-palliative cancer patients, and to determine the other factors associated with burden among caregivers of cancer patients in tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Materials and Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. A total sample of 201 caregivers was obtained from oncology clinics and in patient wards using a purposive sampling technique. Caregiver burden was assessed using a validated and reliable Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) scale and data was collected through a structured questionnaire. Multiple Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis was done to assess the burden among the caregivers of palliative and non-palliative cancer patients, controlling the other factors related to caregivers visiting tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Results:The findings of our study depict that most of the caregivers are suffering from moderate to severe burden (48.26%), 38.81% of the caregivers are suffering from mild to moderate burden, and 12.94% reported no to mild burden. Out of the total participants, majority of the caregivers comprised of male (48.26%) and 51.74% were female caregivers with mean age of Page 7 of 87 40.85±0.77SD. In addition, 38.31% were caregivers of patients on palliative treatment, whereas 61.69% were caregivers of patients not on palliative treatment. Multiple ordinal logistic regression analysis was done to report the adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. The result of the study shows that caregivers of patients on palliative treatment (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.05, 3.93), caregiver having a worse impact on their health (OR: 25.76, CI: 2.88, 230.30), caregiving time i.e., more than 40 hours per week (OR: 5.67, CI: 2.24, 14.31), and no to primary level education (OR: 8.63, CI: 3.04, 24.52) are significantly associated with the burden among caregivers.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the study shows that caregiving for cancer patients is indeed burdensome. The findings of the study indicate a high prevalence of burden among caregivers of cancer patients. In addition, the study also indicates a significant difference of burden among palliative and non palliative cancer patients. Considering the rapidly increasing population of individuals diagnosed with cancer, the rising occurrence of caregiver burden, it is important to identify the elements linked to elevated caregiver burden for directing interventions toward those caregivers who require them the most and improve their quality of life.

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1

Last Page

87

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