Al-Dhawyani Amal, Al-Hinai Karima, Chan Moon Fai, Al-Azri Mohammed
Directorate General of Specialized Medical Care, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman.
National Oncology Center, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
Oman Med J. 2022 Mar 22;37(2):e358. doi: 10.5001/omj.2022.40. eCollection 2022 Mar.
Childhood cancers affect 6.7% of those under 14 in Oman, with leukemia being the most common. The psychological distress of having a child with leukemia is often compounded by perceived unmet needs by the child's primary caregiver. We aimed to identify factors contributing to perceived unmet needs among primary caregivers of Omani children with leukemia.
We conducted a cross-sectional study among 119 Omani caregivers accompanying their children to the National Oncology Center, Muscat, Oman. We used an Arabic version of the Needs Assessment of Family Caregivers-Cancer (NAFC-C) questionnaire to assess perceived unmet needs in seven domains.
A total of 119 Omani primary caregivers were contacted; 101 agreed to participate in the study (response rate: 84.9%). Linear regression analysis showed significant correlations between total NAFC-C scores and the child's ( 0.014) and caregiver's age ( < 0.001), and employment status ( 0.024) and income ( = 0.028). Unmet needs in the obtaining information domain correlated with caregiver's age ( < 0.001), caring time ( 0.018), and number of family members ( < 0.001), whereas needs in the maintaining own strength domain correlated with the child's gender ( 0.028), time since diagnosis ( 0.004), caregiver's age ( < 0.001), and education level ( 0.019). Unmet needs in the accompanying the sick child domain were correlated with the child's gender ( 0.049), caregiver's gender ( < 0.001), and income ( < 0.001).
Various sociodemographic variables affected the unmet needs of primary caregivers of children with leukemias in Oman. Healthcare professionals in Oman should be aware of such factors to reduce caregiver distress.
阿曼14岁以下儿童中6.7%受儿童癌症影响，白血病最为常见。孩子患白血病给其主要照料者带来的心理困扰，常因照料者感到需求未得到满足而加剧。我们旨在确定阿曼白血病患儿主要照料者中，导致其感到需求未得到满足的因素。
我们对119名陪同孩子前往阿曼马斯喀特国家肿瘤中心的阿曼照料者进行了一项横断面研究。我们使用阿拉伯语版的《家庭照料者-癌症需求评估》（NAFC-C）问卷，评估七个领域中未得到满足的需求。
共联系了119名阿曼主要照料者；101人同意参与研究（应答率：84.9%）。线性回归分析显示，NAFC-C总分与孩子的年龄（0.014）、照料者的年龄（<0.001）、就业状况（0.024）和收入（=0.028）之间存在显著相关性。获取信息领域未得到满足的需求与照料者的年龄（<0.001）、照料时间（0.018）和家庭成员数量（<0.001）相关，而维持自身力量领域的需求与孩子的性别（0.028）诊断后的时间（0.004）、照料者的年龄（<0.001）和教育水平（0.019）相关。陪伴患病孩子领域未得到满足的需求与孩子的性别（0.049）、照料者的性别（<0.001）和收入（<0.001）相关。
各种社会人口学变量影响了阿曼白血病患儿主要照料者未得到满足的需求。阿曼的医疗保健专业人员应了解这些因素，以减轻照料者的困扰。
