Care burden and its Related Factors in Parents of Children with Cancer

Caring for children with cancer is a distressing experience for parents. This experience can lead to parents’ care burden. This study explored care burden among parents of children with cancer and its related factors.
In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 85 parents of children with cancer who referred to Shohada Hospital in Tajrish, Tehran were selected through a convenience sampling method and based on the entry characteristics. Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS) and a demographic information questionnaire were used. Descriptive Statistics, independent-samples T test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis (stepwise method) were used in data analysis in SPSS (v.19) software.
The mean score of parents’ care burden overall was 52.68± 9.83, 17.6%, 71.8%, 10.6% had little, moderate and severe burden, respectively. Regression analyses indicated that the factors associated with care burden were medical diagnosis (Acute myeloid leukemia and then Ewing Sarcoma), the number of hospitalization, the income status of parents and the age of parents. These variables accounted for 58% of the variance in care burden.
The results indicated that care burden in parents of children was moderate. Heavy caregiver burden was associated with medical diagnosis, the number of hospitalization, the income status of parents, and the age of parents. Therefore, it is necessary to identify factors affecting the incidence of care burden and design appropriate interventions to reduce care burden in parents and improve quality of care.