食管癌患者家庭照顾者的无望感及抑郁状况调查

目的了解食管癌患者家庭照顾者的抑郁状况及无望感水平,分析导致抑郁的相关因素,为临床护理实践提供循证依据。方法采用立意取样法,选择2011年7月至2012年10月在湖北医药学院3所附属医院肿瘤科及心胸外科住院的食管癌患者的主要家庭照顾者,以流行病研究中心抑郁量表和Beck无望感量表进行问卷调查。结果食管癌患者家庭照顾者抑郁和无望感发生率分别为47.2%和53.9%;照顾者的无望感水平、教育水平、与患者的关系及患者肿瘤分期和病情知晓情况是照顾者抑郁水平的独立预测因子,共解释32.3%的变异。结论食管癌患者家庭照顾者的抑郁及无望感较普遍,晚期、不知情患者及无望感水平高、文化水平低的配偶照顾者更容易发生抑郁。     

Coping and health outcomes in spouse caregivers of persons with dementia

The effects of different coping patterns on the physical health, depression, and anxiety experienced by 60 spouse caregivers of persons with dementia were examined, using Lazarus and Folkman's cognitive model of stress and coping. In addition to coping, the model included the following predictors: severity of the patient's memory and behavior problems, caregiver's appraisal of the stressfulness of those problems, and caregiver's appraisal of their options for managing caregiving. The predictors did not explain a significant amount of the variance in caregivers' physical health, but they did explain 43% of the variance in both depression and anxiety. The only coping pattern that added to the explanations was Wishing-Emotive coping, which consisted of the coping subscales of escape-avoidance, confrontive coping, and accepting responsibility. Caregivers' appraisal of stress was a significant predictor of depression and anxiety, but neither the severity of the patients' problems nor caregivers' appraisal of options was a significant predictor of any of the health outcomes.     

Life-extending therapies among patients with advanced cancer: patients' levels of pain and family caregivers' concerns about pain relief.

The purposes of this article are to explore the extent to which oncology unit patients with advanced cancer in Taiwan receive life-extending therapies and to examine the relationship of care goals (curative vs palliative) to levels of pain and family caregivers' concerns about pain reporting and analgesic administration. Forty pairs of patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers (N = 80) were recruited from inpatient oncology units in Taiwan. Of these patients, 53% were receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy for life-extending or curative reasons as opposed to palliative goals. Patients with advanced cancer who were receiving life-extending therapies experienced lower levels of pain intensity than did those who were not receiving life-extending therapies. Moreover, Taiwanese family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer had concerns about reporting pain and administering analgesics regardless of whether the patient was receiving life-extending therapies. However, the family caregivers whose patients were receiving life-extending therapies were less concerned about using analgesics than were those caregivers whose patients were not receiving life-extending therapies. Finally, family caregivers' concerns about pain management as measured by the Barriers Questionnaire-Taiwan (BQT) form were related to family caregivers' reluctance to report their patients' pain. Implications of this study are discussed in terms of palliative care and pain educational programs.     

社区生活自理障碍老年人照顾者负担及其影响因素的调查

目的调查社区生活自理障碍老年人照顾者负担水平,探讨影响照顾者负担的相关因素。方法采用非实验性描述性研究,采用日常生活能力量表（ADL）、照顾者人口学资料调查问卷、照顾者负担量表（CBI）调查北京市2个社区72名生活自理障碍老年人及主要照顾者,并进行统计分析。结果72名照顾者轻度负担18名,中度负担50名,重度负担4名。女性照顾者负担大于男性照顾者,有配偶的照顾者比无配偶的照顾者的负担大,不在职照顾者的负担比在职照顾者负担大,自觉身体健康差的照顾者较自觉身体健康好的照顾者的负担大,差异均有统计学意义（P〈0．01或P〈0．05）;生活自理障碍的男性患者照顾者比女性患者照顾者负担大（P〈0．01）,患者ADL得分越高,照顾者的负担越大（P〈0．01）。结论生活自理障碍老年人的照顾者普遍存在不同程度的照顾负担,其总体负担水平处于中度;生活自理障碍老年人照顾者的负担受照顾者的性别、照顾者的婚姻状况、照顾者的自觉身体健康状况、照顾者职业状况、照顾对象的性别及其日常生活能力等因素的影响。     

How is sleep quality affected by the psychological and symptom distress of advanced cancer patients?

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between sleep quality, pain, psychological distress, cognitive status and post-traumatic experience in advanced cancer patients. Participants were 82 advanced cancer patients referred to a palliative care unit for control of pain and other symptoms. A variety of assessment tools were used to examine the prevalence of sleep disturbance, the severity of pain and depression, hopelessness, cognitive function and quality of life. Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) 96% of patients were 'poor sleepers'. Statistically significant associations were found between PSQI and the SF-12 (Short Form-12) Quality of Life Instrument (MCS, P < 0.0005, PCS, P < 0.0005), depression (Greek Depression Inventory) (P < 0.0005) and hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale) (P = 0.003). Strong associations were also found between PSQI and IES-R (Impact of Event Scale-Revised) (P = 0.004). The strongest predictors of poor sleep quality in this model were MCS (P < 0.0005), PCS (P < 0.0005) and IES-R (P = 0.010). Post-traumatic experience and quality of life seemed to be the strongest predictors of sleep quality in a sample of advanced cancer patients referred for palliative care.     

Depression and caregiver burden experienced by caregivers of Jordanian patients with stroke

Many stroke survivors will be cared for at home, primarily by their relatives. Providing care to a family member with a chronic disabling disease can be both emotionally and physically distressing for the caregivers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between patients' characteristics, duration of caregiving, daily caregiving time, caregiver's characteristics, caregiver depression and burden in caregivers of patients with stroke. A cross-sectional design was used with a convenience sample of 116 subjects. The Center of Epidemiologic Studies of Depression and the Caregiver Strain Index were used to identify caregiver depression and burden, respectively. Logistic regression analysis identified the influence of independent variables on caregiver depression and caregiver burden. Caregivers had high scores for depression and burden indices. Caregivers' health, receiving professional home health care and caregivers' burden were related to caregiver depression. Functional disabilities of patients with stroke and depression of caregivers were related to caregiver burden. To decrease caregiver depression and burden, nurses must provide caregivers with instructions for home management of patients with stroke. Development of specialized stroke home health services in Jordan that targets patients with stroke and their caregivers are recommended.     

Factors associated with the accuracy of family caregiver estimates of patient pain.

This study identified factors associated with inaccurate family caregiver assessments of patient pain. Participants were 31 caregiver-patient dyads receiving hospice home care. All patients had a primary diagnosis of end-stage cancer. As expected, caregivers overestimated patient pain. The degree of disparity for each dyad was calculated by subtracting the patient's pain rating from the caregiver's rating of patient pain. Caregiver knowledge of cancer pain management was not related to the degree of disparity in pain ratings, but caregivers' experience of patient pain was significantly related to accuracy of caregivers' pain ratings. Those caregivers who 1) perceived their loved one to be in a great deal of distress secondary to pain, 2) associated greater efforts at pain relief (i.e., more medication) with greater levels of pain, and 3) were themselves distressed by the patient's pain had the most inaccurate estimates of patient pain. There was a trend for greater disparity in pain estimates to be related to poorer existential quality of life for patients. Overall, the findings suggest that health care providers need to take into consideration family members' interpretation of patient pain when providing pain management education services.     

Caregiving at the end of life: Perceptions of health care quality and quality of life among patients and caregivers

This study explored the association between perceptions of health care quality and quality of life in patients with advanced metastatic cancer and their informal caregivers (n=39). Patients' and caregivers' perceptions of health care quality, mental health, health-related quality of life, symptoms, and burden were measured. The key findings included the following: 1) patients' mental health and depression scores correlated with those of caregivers, suggesting that the mental health of patients and their caregivers are associated; 2) patients and caregivers shared similar perceptions regarding health care quality; 3) the presence of depression in caregivers correlated with caregivers being less satisfied with the health care being given to their patients (this correlation did not exist for patients, a finding that may be due in part to the protective buffering effect that caregivers provide their patients as illness progresses); and 4) a modified Primary Care Assessment Survey, originally designed for primary care patients, was a useful measure of health care assessment for both patients and caregivers. These data suggest that patients with advanced disease and their caregivers share similar perceptions and evolve as a "unit of care," and caregivers, as unique and important members of the patient's health care team, are also in need of care. When depressed, caregivers may unilaterally lose trust by becoming less satisfied with the quality of health care being provided to their patients.     

脑卒中患者家庭照顾者的应对方式和抑郁状况的调查

目的探索脑卒中患者家庭照顾者应对方式和抑郁水平的相关因素和预测因子。方法采用立意取样方法，选择92名患者及他们的照顾者完成调查问卷。结果脑卒中照顾者主要采用计划、正性重构、接受和积极应对四种应对方式；44．6％的照顾者有不同程度的抑郁症状；住院时间、功能和认知状况、家庭收入与照顾者的抑郁显著相关；应对方式中拒绝、自责、计划和信教与照顾者的抑郁显著相关；拒绝、计划两种应对方式和患者的功能状况是抑郁的预测因子。结论照顾者常采用适应性应对方式，但是他们的抑郁水平却很高。因此，应加强对家庭照顾者的关注。     

Arthritis patients' self-reported affective states and their caregivers' perceptions

Differences between arthritis patients' self-reported affective states and caregivers' perceptions of their affective states were assessed. Thirty hospitalized arthritis patients completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, a component of which measures denial, after which an interview assessment of their denial was made. Following this, a caregiver sample, 26 registered nurses who were familiar with at least one of the patient subjects, completed the MAACL as they believed the patient would. T tests revealed that caregivers were generally accurate in their assessment of the patients' affective states. These results are discussed in light of Wright's (1960, 1983) requirement of mourning. Further significant findings of interest were: The caregivers' attribution of anxiety was positively correlated with the patient's socioeconomic status; and, the higher the nursing educational level of the caregivers the more accurate their assessments.     

A population-based study of the quality of life of cancer survivors and their family caregivers

Although survival rates for all cancers continue to increase, few studies have examined the quality of life of both cancer survivors and family caregivers during the survivorship period after treatment has ended. Information is lacking on the stressors, resources, meaning, and quality of life reported by survivors and family caregivers and the interrelationship between survivors' and family caregivers' quality of life. A stratified, random sample of 123 cancer survivors and 123 family caregivers (N = 246) were interviewed in an exploratory, cross-sectional design 1-6 years after cancer treatment had ended. Approximately half (N = 62) of the dyads were white and half (N = 61) were African American. Results indicated that cancer survivors reported significantly higher quality of life, less fear of cancer recurrence, and more support than their family caregivers. The strongest predictors for cancer survivors' quality of life were family stressors, social support, meaning of the illness, and employment status, whereas the strongest predictors for family caregivers' quality of life were fear of recurrence and social support. Both the survivor's and family caregiver's quality of life independently contributed to the other's quality of life. Findings from this study suggest the importance of including both survivors and family caregivers in programs of care.     

Emotional and physical health of spouse caregivers of persons with Alzheimer''s disease and stroke

Providing care for a cognitively impaired spouse can adversely affect caregivers' health. It is not known how early in the caregiver's 'career' emotional and physical health deteriorates. The progressive deterioration associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may have different effects on caregivers' health when compared with the potential recovery following a stroke. An exploratory study was conducted with 42 couples, equally divided among early phase AD, ischaemic stroke after hospital discharge, and well controls. Couples were evaluated at baseline (time 1), 6 months (time 2) and 1 year (time 3). At time 1, depression was significantly higher in AD and stroke caregivers when compared to controls. Over time, depression increased significantly for AD caregivers with 21% evidencing moderate to severe depression at time 1 and 50% at time 3. For stroke caregivers there was a significant interaction effect with race: white stroke caregivers' depression increased over time while African American stroke caregivers' depression decreased. Physical health was not significantly different for the three groups and remained stable over time. Cognitive and functional impairment levels of care recipients were significantly related to stroke caregivers' but not AD caregivers' depression. Long-term counselling and support to family caregivers is advocated.     

Exploring the relationships between depression, hopelessness, cognitive status, pain, and spirituality in patients with advanced cancer

The growing interest in the psychological morbidity of patients with cancer has been the major reason for conducting this study. The measurements used were the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Mini Mental State Examination, the Greek Brief Pain Inventory, and the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale. The analysis was conducted in 82 patients with advanced cancer. Significant associations were found between pain interference in "mood" and in "enjoyment of life" and hopelessness, as well as between worse pain and pain interference items with depression and cognitive status. Significant correlations were found between hopelessness, depression, and cognitive condition. These findings demonstrate the physical, psychological, and cognitive aspects of patients with cancer.     

Factors affecting the burden on caregivers of stroke survivors in South Korea

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the factors related to the caregiver burden in stroke survivors in Seoul, Korea. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Korea. PARTICIPANTS: We randomly selected 340 stroke patients and evaluated them for 3 years poststroke. Among them, 147 caregivers and patients were finally interviewed. INTERVENTIONS: Patients' demographic data, neurologic symptoms, depression, emotional incontinence, and Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) score were assessed. In addition, primary caregivers' demographic data, hours of care per day, relationship with the patients, health status, anxiety and depression, and the presence of alternative caregivers were assessed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Caregiver burden was evaluated with the Sense of Competence Questionnaire, which has 3 subdomains with a total of 27 items. RESULTS: Caregiver burden score was high as compared with reports from Western society. Patient factors related to the burden scores were being unemployed ( P <.05), the presence of diabetes mellitus ( P <.05), aphasia ( P <.01), dysarthria ( P <.05), dysphagia ( P <.01), cognitive dysfunction ( P <.01), severe MRS score ( P <.01), emotional incontinence ( P <.05), and depression ( P <.01). Caregiver factors related to high burden scores were being female ( P <.05), unemployment ( P <.01), being daughters-in-law ( P <.01), anxiety ( P <.01), depression ( P <.01), and long caregiving hours ( P <.05). On multivariate analysis, the most significant predictor for overall caregiver burden was caregiver anxiety followed by patient MRS score and caregivers being daughters-in-law. Caregiver depression, current employment status, and patient depression were also factors related to their burden. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver anxiety, patient physical deficits, and caregivers being daughter-in-law are important factors related to the caregiver burden in our population. Strategies to reduce caregiver burden should be developed based on understanding of these factors.     

Predictors of postbereavement depressive symptomatology among family caregivers of cancer patients

The present study investigated two aspects of the sequelae of recent bereavement among family caregivers following the death of their cancer patient: (1) the extent to which depressive symptomatology among family caregivers measured following the death of their patient could be predicted by their levels of depressive symptomatology in the months prior to death, their physical health, the setting in which the patient's death occurred, patient age, gender of the caregiver, consanguinity, financial stress, social support from family and friends during the terminal stage, impact of caregiving activities on caregiver's daily schedule, caregiver optimism, perceived esteem attributed to caregiving, the time between the prebereavement assessment and death, and the time between death and the postbereavement assessment; and (2) whether these same explanatory variables could successfully differentiate those bereaved caregivers whose psychological health improved during the first 3 months following bereavement from those who did not improve. A sample of 114 family caregivers of cancer patients were surveyed for approximately 3 months before and 3 months after the death of their patient. A multivariate analysis of variance using the regression approach was undertaken to determine the primary predictors of postbereavement depressive symptomatology. In addition, a logistic regression analysis was used to attempt to predict those caregivers whose depressive symptomatology would improve during the postbereavement period. Critical factors in determining levels of postbereavement depressive symptomatology were caregiver optimism, prebereavement depressive symptomatology, and levels of social support from friends. Caregiver optimism and prebereavement depressive symptomatology were important in predicting whether caregivers' depressive symptomatology would improve or not. Physicians must be aware that if the social history of a patient reveals that he/she is anticipating or has recently experienced the loss of a family member for whom they were the primary caregiver, this information may be critical in determining whether the illness behavior exhibited by the patient has medical or psychosocial origins.     

Family caregivers' assessment of symptoms in patients with advanced cancer: concordance with patients and factors affecting accuracy

The purposes of the study were to examine the concordance between patients' and family caregivers' assessments of patients' symptoms, and to identify demographic and psychosocial factors that affect levels of agreement. Sixty-six patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care, and their primary, informal caregivers assessed patients' symptoms using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS). Levels of agreement for individual symptoms ranged from poor to excellent (interclass correlation coefficient 0.07-0.75). Analysis of the group means using paired t-tests revealed significant differences for the MSAS subscales (psychological, physical, and general distress index), and for four of the 12 physical symptoms and five of the six psychological symptoms. The magnitude of the observed differences indicated a small to moderate bias for caregivers to overestimate, which was more marked for psychological than for physical symptoms. A number of factors associated with the caregiver (particularly the emotional state, the burden of providing care, and male gender) and the patient (the perception of being a burden to others) were significantly correlated with levels of disparity on some measures. The findings are consistent with the growing body of literature on the validity of proxy respondents' assessments of patients' symptoms.     

Hopelessness and persistence of depression in an inpatient sample

Recent research indicates that hopelessness is a significant predictor of the persistence of depression in both community and outpatient depressed samples. To further assess the generality of these findings, the present study investigated whether hopelessness (measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale) would predict persistence of depression (measured by the Beck Depression Inventory or BDI) in an inpatient sample undergoing multimodal treatments for depression. Upon admission (Time 1), 115 subjects with unipolar depression were administered the Beck Hopelessness Scale and BDI. Ninety-seven of these subjects responded to a second BDI at discharge (Time 2), and 50 returned a third BDI by mail approximately 6 months following discharge (Time 3). Hierarchical multiple-regression analyses indicated that degree of hopelessness at Time 1 significantly predicted severity of depression at Time 2, even after controlling for Time 1 BDI scores, sex, and length of hospital stay. This relationship, however, did not hold for the prediction of BDI-assessed depression severity at Time 3. These findings suggest the need for further research to clarify issues concerning the state—trait characteristics of hopelessness, factors influencing hopelessness persistence and change, and processes mediating relationships between hopelessness and depression persistence.We thank Deborah Blanchard, Susan Reedy, and Gail Woods for their assistance in data collection.     

Perceptions of patients' self-efficacy for managing pain and lung cancer symptoms: correspondence between patients and family caregivers

This study examined the degree of correspondence between lung cancer patients and their family caregivers in their perceptions of the patients' self-efficacy for managing pain and other symptoms of lung cancer, and the association of this correspondence to demographic, disease, and psychosocial variables. Thirty patients who were newly diagnosed with lung cancer and their primary family caregivers completed telephone interviews assessing the patient's symptoms, the patient's self-efficacy for managing symptoms, the quality of the relationship between the patient and caregiver, patient and caregiver psychological distress, and caregiver strain. Although patients and their caregivers showed a moderate degree of agreement in their perceptions of the patient's self-efficacy for managing pain and other symptoms, there was considerable variability in the degree of congruence. Factors that contributed to lower levels of congruence included low patient-rated self-efficacy, female gender of the patient, high patient psychological distress, and high caregiver strain. Caregivers were about evenly split in their tendency to overestimate versus underestimate the patient's self-efficacy. A poorer quality of relationship between the caregiver and the patient (as rated by the patient), high levels of patient-rated symptoms, and high levels of caregiver strain were associated with caregivers overestimating patient self-efficacy.