1490P - Health-related quality of life of cancer patients on chemotherapy and its relationship with caregiver strain: A cross-sectional analytical study

Background

Cancer is a debilitating disease that affects both patients and their caregivers. The diagnosis and treatment of cancer could affect the quality life of the patient and their family. Patients undergoing chemotherapy experience physical and emotional symptoms that affect their quality of life. Some of them experienced difficulty sleeping, depression and poor quality of life. Caregivers of cancer patients may have to cope with a variety of physical, social, and economic problems during the caregiving process. Caregivers experienced caregiver strain while providing care for the patient. The caregiver strain influences the quality of care and thus the quality of life of the patient. Hence, this study aims to determine the health-related quality of life of cancer patients on chemotherapy and its relationship with caregiver strain.

Methods

A cross sectional analytical study was conducted among cancer patients and their caregiver at the Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center. The EORTC core quality of life questionnaire (QLQ-C30) and modified caregiver strain index (MCSI) questionnaires were administered to assess HRQoL and caregiver strain respectively. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Spearman rank were performed for analysis of quality-of-life parameters and caregiver strain.

Results

A total of 145 cancer patient-caregiver dyads were included in this study. The median global health status among cancer patients was 75 (66.67 to 91.67) suggesting an optimistic view of overall health and quality of life. The median MCSI score was 19 (14 to 24) indicating a moderate to high level of strain. The relationship between health-related quality of life and caregiver strain showed minimal to no meaningful relationship.

Conclusions

Cancer patients generally exhibit satisfactory to high functioning across physical, role, and cognitive functions. The caregiving role, irrespective of the patient's condition, carries intrinsic challenges. Although the relationship between the HRQoL of patients and caregiver strain was very weak, both are important and functions independently.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.