The burden of care and its correlates in family caregivers of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in Sari, Iran, in 2020

Caring for patients with cancer can often give rise to numerous physical and mental health problems or even exacerbate them among family caregivers. The present study aimed to reflect on the burden of care and its correlates affecting family caregivers of breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing chemotherapy.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study of correlational type was conducted on a total number of 163 family caregivers of patients with BC undergoing chemotherapy at Imam Khomeini Teaching Hospital and Baghban Specialized Center based in the city of Sari, Iran, in 2020. For this purpose, the study samples were selected through the available sampling technique. As well, the demographic characteristics information form and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) were employed for data collection. The data were ultimately analyzed using the SPSS Statistics software (ver. 21).

The study results revealed that 72 family caregivers (44.17%) were experiencing high levels of burden of care (>36). Moreover, caregivers’ level of income, number of chemotherapy sessions, duration of disease, and patients’ insurance coverage status were significantly correlated with caregiver burden, which were evaluated in the multiple logistic regression analysis. This model could further explain 25.2% of variance in the burden of care severity in these informal caregivers (p<0.001, Chi-square [χ2] statistic=33.9). The multiple logistic regression analysis was also utilized to determine the effect of the most important dimensions of the burden of care and this model could account for 94.8% of variance in the burden of care severity among these family caregivers, wherein developmental, social, physical, and time dependence dimensions respectively had the greatest impacts on compounding caregiver burden.

The study results indicated high levels of burden of care in family caregivers of patients suffering from BC. Therefore, it was recommended to consider the burden of care correlates and to plan for proper interventions, according to the findings in the present study, in further research.