Department of Psycho-Oncology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan.
Department of Palliative Care, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan.
Palliat Support Care. 2011 Jun;9(2):209-12. doi: 10.1017/S1478951511000071.
Family caregivers of cancer patients suffer from physical, psychological, and social distress and therefore are often referred to as second order patients. Akathisia is a common side effect of antipsychotics and antidepressants that causes great discomfort and even agitation and is often described by patients administered these drugs as the most distressing side effect of their treatment. Several studies of akathisia as a cause of distress in cancer patients have been reported. However, akathisia has not been reported as a cause of distress in family caregivers of cancer patients.
METHOD/CASE REPORT: A 74-year-old spouse caregiver who was under treatment for major depressive disorder was not able to visit the hospital where her husband, a terminally ill cancer patient, was being treated. Initially, the spouse caregiver thought that she could not visit the hospital because of the symptoms of her depression and her grief about losing her husband. However, careful clinical examination revealed that she was suffering from akathisia in addition to her grief.
Discontinuation of her sulpiride treatment resulted in the disappearance of her akathisia symptoms, and therefore she became able to visit the hospital and care for her terminally ill husband.
Drug induced akathisia is a cause of distress in spouse caregivers taking certain drugs. It is important for clinicians to realize that family caregivers might suffer from not only socioeconomic, physical, and psychological problems but also side effects of medication.
癌症患者的家属照顾者会遭受身体、心理和社会方面的困扰，因此他们通常被称为二级患者。静坐不能是抗精神病药和抗抑郁药的常见副作用，会引起极大的不适，甚至激越，经常被接受这些药物治疗的患者描述为治疗中最痛苦的副作用。已有几项关于静坐不能是癌症患者困扰原因的研究报告。然而，静坐不能并未被报道为癌症患者家属照顾者困扰的原因。
方法/病例报告：一位 74 岁的配偶照顾者，正在接受治疗重度抑郁症，无法去她丈夫所在的医院，她的丈夫是一位绝症癌症患者。起初，配偶照顾者认为她不能去医院是因为她的抑郁症状和对失去丈夫的悲痛。然而，仔细的临床检查发现，除了悲痛之外，她还患有静坐不能。
停止她的舒必利治疗后，她的静坐不能症状消失，因此她能够去医院照顾她的绝症丈夫。
药物引起的静坐不能是服用某些药物的配偶照顾者困扰的原因。临床医生必须认识到，家属照顾者不仅可能遭受社会经济、身体和心理问题的困扰，还可能遭受药物副作用的困扰。
