Kumar Divyesh, Dey Treshita, Arora Mini
Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
Department of Radiotherapy, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
Indian J Palliat Care. 2024 Jan-Mar;30(1):41-46. doi: 10.25259/IJPC_133_2021. Epub 2024 Feb 16.
Family caregivers (FCGs) play a crucial role in the home care of terminally ill patients. Therefore, evaluating their comprehension of patients' symptoms and doctors' advice becomes crucial. Moreover, this might negatively impact their quality of life (QOL). Thus, the purpose of the study was to examine FCGs' perception and understanding of cancer pain in relation to patients' pain assessments, as well as the effect this has on their own QOL.
The family pain questionnaire (FPQ) and patient pain questionnaire (PPQ) were used for both patient as well as their FCGs. The scores for each subscale, knowledge, and experience were calculated. Furthermore, FCGs' own QOL was assessed using the caregiver quality of life index-cancer (CQOLC) questionnaire. Results were statistically analysed.
The FCGs of 93 individuals were examined. The Cronbach alphas for the current dataset showed that the FPQ (0.754) and PPQ (0.759) overall reliability scales were satisfactory. The knowledge, experience, and total average scores for the PPQ (FPQ) subscales were reported as 35.91 (35.31), 27.19 (26.86), and 63.10 (62.17), respectively. The knowledge, experience, and overall scales of the PPQ (FPQ) were evaluated to provide median scores of 37 (36), 28 (25), and 65 (62) correspondingly. A t-test was used to determine the significance of the observed average differences (d) for knowledge (0.602), experience (0.333), and overall (0.935). The results showed that there were no significant differences ( > 0.05). An inverse relationship was elicited between the total QOL and the pain assessment scores of FCGs, as well as the age of the patient. The difference was, however, majorly statistically non-significant ( > 0.5). Further, statistical significance was found only between the burden component of the CQOLC and the age of the patients ( = 0.034), as well as total pain knowledge ( = 0.007) and total pain scores ( = 0.001) of the FCGs'.
As per our analysis, FCGs had less knowledge and experience of patients' pain, though statistically , it was not significant. The age of the patient, as well as total pain knowledge and total pain scores of the FCGs' were found to affect the QOL of FCGs'. Studies with large sample sizes might help in strengthening the findings.
家庭照顾者在绝症患者的家庭护理中起着至关重要的作用。因此，评估他们对患者症状和医生建议的理解变得至关重要。此外，这可能会对他们的生活质量（QOL）产生负面影响。因此，本研究的目的是检查家庭照顾者对癌症疼痛的认知和理解与患者疼痛评估的关系，以及这对他们自身生活质量的影响。
对患者及其家庭照顾者均使用家庭疼痛问卷（FPQ）和患者疼痛问卷（PPQ）。计算每个子量表、知识和经验的得分。此外，使用照顾者生活质量指数-癌症（CQOLC）问卷评估家庭照顾者自身的生活质量。对结果进行统计学分析。
对93名个体的家庭照顾者进行了检查。当前数据集的Cronbach α系数表明，FPQ（0.754）和PPQ（0.759）的总体信度量表令人满意。PPQ（FPQ）子量表的知识、经验和总平均分分别报告为35.91（35.31）、27.19（26.86）和63.10（62.17）。对PPQ（FPQ）的知识、经验和总体量表进行评估，相应的中位数得分分别为37（36）、28（25）和65（62）。使用t检验确定观察到的知识（0.602）、经验（0.333）和总体（0.935）平均差异（d）的显著性。结果表明没有显著差异（>0.05）。家庭照顾者的总体生活质量与疼痛评估得分以及患者年龄之间呈负相关。然而，这种差异在统计学上大多不显著（>0.5）。此外，仅在CQOLC的负担成分与患者年龄（=0.034）以及家庭照顾者的总疼痛知识（=0.007）和总疼痛得分（=0.001）之间发现了统计学显著性。
根据我们的分析，家庭照顾者对患者疼痛的知识和经验较少，尽管在统计学上不显著。发现患者年龄以及家庭照顾者的总疼痛知识和总疼痛得分会影响家庭照顾者的生活质量。大样本量的研究可能有助于加强这些发现。
