RESEARCH ARTICLE
Depression Among the Caregivers of Breast Cancer Patients and its Association with the Quality of Life
Suzie Y. Rababa’h1, *, Karem H. Alzoubi2, 3, Laiali Alquraan4, Reema Karasneh5, Sayer I Al-azzam3, Nasr Alrabadi6
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 18
E-location ID: e174501792208221
Publisher ID: e174501792208221
DOI: 10.2174/17450179-v18-e2208221
Article History:
Received Date: 03/2/2022Revision Received Date: 25/5/2022
Acceptance Date: 1/7/2022
Electronic publication date: 10/10/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction:
This study investigated the prevalence of depression among the Jordanian caregivers of patients with breast cancer and its effect on their health-related quality of life (QOL).
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study with a sample that consisted of 122 caregivers recruited from 2 hospitals in Jordan over 5 months. A validated questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence of depression symptoms and the aspects of QOL among the participants using Beck’s Depression Inventory-II score and the 36-Item Survey Form (SF-36) score.
Results and Discussion:
Depression symptoms were revealed in 27.9% of caregivers. Regarding the QOL, the mental health (MH) subscale was considerably associated with caregivers’ age (P=0.007). The marital status of caregivers was significantly associated with pain (Bodily Pain BP) (P=0.015), Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI; P=0.009), and social functioning (SF) (P=0.008). The number of caregivers’ siblings was considerably associated with MH (P=0.040) subscale. The monthly income of caregivers was associated with BP (P=0.042). The residency of caregivers was considerably connected with role limitations because of emotional problems (RE) (P=0.027) and role limitations due to physical health (RF) (P=0.013) subscales. There was a significant correlation between the existing family history of depression with RF (P=0.009), RE (P=0.005), SF (P=0.003), and energy/fatigue (Vitality VT) (P=0.001) subscales. Furthermore, the physical activity of caregivers was connected with the RF (P=0.030), general health (GH) (P=0.018), RE (P=0.015), and MH (P=0.003) subscales.
Conclusion:
Around a third of the caregivers revealed depression symptoms. The QOL subscales for these caregivers were connected with various health and social factors, such as age, number of siblings, marital status, monthly income, residency, family history of depression, and physical activity. The evaluation of the mental and physical well-being of caregivers should always be considered and managed to help them to cope with their QOL.
