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Prevalence and predictors of anxiety and depression among family caregivers of cancer patients: a nationwide survey of patient–family caregiver dyads in Korea

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to identify the prevalence and predictors of anxiety and depression among family caregivers of patients with cancer in Korea.

Methods

A national, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 897 family caregivers. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to assess anxiety and depression in patient–family caregiver dyads.

Results

The prevalence of anxiety in family caregivers was 38.1 %:20.3 % reported mild anxiety, 13.3 % reported moderate anxiety, and 4.6 % reported severe anxiety. The prevalence of depression was 82.2 %:40.4 % reported mild depression, 25.5 % reported moderate depression, and 16.3 % reported severe depression. Family caregivers who were younger, were caring for male patients, or had a low quality of life (QOL) in relation to three of the variables measured in the Korean Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC-K): burden, disturbance, and financial concerns reported increased anxiety. Becoming unemployed during caregiving, being the spouse of a patient and having low QOL in relation to three of the variables measured by the CQOLC-K: burden, disturbance, and positive adaptation were associated with depression among family caregivers. The predictive validity of the selected variables were 0.861 (95 % CI: 0.844–0.892) for anxiety and 0.794 (95 % CI: 0.751–0.828) for depression.

Conclusions

Family caregivers of patients with cancer experienced high levels of anxiety and depression. Socio-demographic factors and QOL were predictors of anxiety and depression in family caregivers.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported from the National Cancer Center, Korea (Grant No. 1210150–1), a grant of the National R&D Program for Cancer Control (Grant No. 1020010), and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea (administrative support)

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and/or publication of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea

    Boyoung Park, So Young Kim, Ji-Yeon Shin & Jong-Hyock Park

  2. Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle & Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales, Australia

    Robert W. Sanson-Fisher

  3. Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University Cancer Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Dong Wook Shin

  4. Department of Health Science and Technology, School of Medicine & SAHIST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea

    Juhee Cho

  5. Division of Cancer Policy and Management, National Cancer Control Research Institute, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 410-769, South Korea

    Jong-Hyock Park

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  1. Boyoung Park
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Correspondence to Jong-Hyock Park.

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Park, B., Kim, S.Y., Shin, JY. et al. Prevalence and predictors of anxiety and depression among family caregivers of cancer patients: a nationwide survey of patient–family caregiver dyads in Korea. Support Care Cancer 21, 2799–2807 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1852-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1852-1

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