Caregivers of advanced cancer patients: feelings of hopelessness and depression

To investigate whether the advanced cancer patients' caregivers' depression and hopelessness are affected by patients' demographic and clinical characteristics and by caregivers' sociodemographic variables. Moreover, the relation between cancer patients' and caregivers' depression and hopelessness was assessed. One hundred five patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care and 96 caregivers were enrolled in the study. The patients and their caregivers completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Hopelessness Scale while researchers recorded data on demographic characteristics, disease status, and treatment regimen. The analysis showed that significant associations were found between patient male sex and caregiver's depression (P = .007) and hopelessness (P = .002), between patient family status and caregiver's depression (P = .031) and hopelessness (P = .001), and between patient radiotherapy treatment and caregiver's hopelessness (P = .017). Moreover, statistically significant correlation was found between patient's and caregiver's depression (P = .041). Generalized estimating equations showed that the patients characteristics that predicted caregivers' hopelessness were family status (P = .017), radiotherapy (P = .025), and the caregiver's relation to patient (P = .059). The findings suggest that caregiver's hopelessness is predicted by cancer patient's characteristics and that patient's depression is correlated to that of caregiver. The findings provide a base for future research.