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Abstract
Purpose
The diagnosis of
cancer, the symptoms of the illness and its treatment have an influence
on how patients and their caregivers experience distress. However, data
focusing on caregivers and their cancer-related distress in the
outpatient setting is sparse. This study aimed to compare cancer-related
distress of caregivers and patients and to derive implications for the
system of outpatient psycho-oncological care.
Methods
One hundred
thirty-eight patients and 102 caregivers receiving psycho-oncological
counseling completed a standardized interview based on a self-assessment
questionnaire (Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients, FBK).
Results
Group comparisons
for cancer-related distress revealed one statistically significant
difference for the subscale ‘Fear’ of the FBK, Z = 2.308, p = .021, and d
= .44. Caregivers showed higher cancer-related fear (M = 2.76,
SD = 1.14) than patients (M = 2.41, SD = 1.29). There were no
differences in ‘psychosomatic complaints’, ‘information deficit’,
‘restrictions in everyday life’, ‘social strains’, or the total score of
the FBK.
Conclusions
Caregivers seem to
experience cancer-related distress equal to or even more severely than
patients themselves. Results suggest that there is a need for more
low-threshold offers of outpatient psycho-oncological counseling for
caregivers.
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