Taking care of children with cancer: evaluation of the caregivers' burden and quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer is a disease of high incidence among children and the patients need a caregiver during the treatment. Aim: to evaluate: the burden of care and quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of children/adolescents with cancer during chemotherapy treatment and relate them to each other and to the socio-demographic data and the presence and degree of signs of depression, Method: It is a cross-sectional study, with 32 caregivers. Socio-demographic, care burden (Caregiver Burden Scale) and QOL data (SF-36) were collected. Results: 87.5% of the caregivers were mothers, total score of burden 1.92±0.09 and most compromised score of the SF-36: emotional aspects (59.3), vitality (60.0), pain (60.9). There was a significant correlation between burden and mental health and vitality. Conclusion: Caregivers presented care burden and compromised aspects of QOL and possibly need interventions that will promote social and emotional wellbeing to reduce the burden, improve the quality of life QOL and consequently deliver better care.