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Patient quality of life and caregiver experiences in ovarian cancer: How are they related?

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Abstract

Purpose

Patients with ovarian cancer and their spousal caregivers report similarities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and experiences throughout the cancer process. Previous research has reflected these shared experiences, demonstrating caregivers’ capacity to accurately rate their patient-partner’s HRQoL as a proxy. In response, this study examines associations between caregivers’ perceptions of their patient-partner’s HRQoL and their own caregiving responsibilities, consequences to well-being, and desired assistance from the healthcare system. This study will be beneficial when developing supports to assist caregivers throughout the cancer journey.

Methods

Using a cross-sectional survey design, spousal caregivers (N = 82) of patients with ovarian cancer completed measures on perceived patient HRQoL and caregiver experiences. Correlation analyses determined medical and sociodemographic covariates. A multivariate multiple regression was conducted using four proxy HRQoL functioning subscales and three factors of reported experiences as caregivers in cancer. Post-hoc univariate regression analyses were run on significant factors to assess the associations that exist.

Results

Caregiver-perceived patient physical functioning was significantly associated with more caregiving tasks after controlling for education, age, and stage of ovarian cancer, but no other HRQoL functioning scale (i.e., role, emotional, social) was associated with caregiver experiences.

Conclusion

The study provides a unique perspective into the caregiver experience by attending to interpersonal factors in relation to caregiver experiences. Results may be able to guide interventions aimed at supporting caregivers through the cancer process by offering more assistance with tasks as their partner’s physical condition worsens.

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Data availability

The data presented in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to privacy.

Notes

  1. The present study uses the original three factors (i.e., tasks, needs, and consequences) to provide stronger, more comprehensive interpretations to explain caregiver experiences. The main researcher, E. S., contacted Dr. Line Lund (CaTCoN [24]) who indicated this method would be suitable.

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Vanier Hall, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier Private, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Elisa Stragapede & Sophie Lebel

  2. Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Canada

    Danielle Petricone-Westwood

  3. Department of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

    Sarah Hales

  4. School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

    Jacqueline Galica

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  1. Elisa Stragapede
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  5. Sophie Lebel
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Contributions

All authors contributed to this study’s conceptualization. Data were initially collected for a larger study by Drs. Danielle Petricone-Westwood and Sophie Lebel. Data analysis for this study was performed by Elisa Stragapede. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Elisa Stragapede and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisa Stragapede.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Institutional Review Boards of the University of Ottawa (Approved 19 July 2017, REB#: H05-17-02), Queen’s University (Approved 19 November 2018, REB#: NURS-455-18), and the University Health Network (Approved 25 February 2019, REB#: 18-5213).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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The authors affirm that all individual participants provided informed consent for the publication of results. No identifying information is included in this manuscript.

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Stragapede, E., Petricone-Westwood, D., Hales, S. et al. Patient quality of life and caregiver experiences in ovarian cancer: How are they related?. Qual Life Res 32, 3521–3529 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-023-03481-3

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