Eggert L, Drueke B, Horbach-Bremen R, Geiser F, Heier L, Heuser C, Karger A, Klett M K, Ernstmann N, Habel U, Panse J, Petermann-Meyer A
Department of Hematology, Oncology, Hemostaseology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Center for Integrated Oncology, Aachen Bonn Cologne Duesseldorf (CIOABCD), Aachen, Germany.
Support Care Cancer. 2025 Jun 30;33(7):642. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09697-y.
Caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients are acknowledged to be at a heightened risk for experiencing severe psychological distress. This study examines psychological distress in healthy parents (HPs) caring for both a partner in the end-of-life phase and dependent children and how the Family-SCOUT intervention affects their distress course.
This analysis utilized data from the multicenter, quasi-experimental, non-randomized, non-blinded Family-SCOUT intervention study. HPs were stratified into subgroups based on their partner's survival status 12 months after T0 (study enrollment) and their assignment to the intervention or control group. Psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) at T0 and at T2 (9 months of follow-up). Threshold analysis, t-tests, repeated measures ANOVA, and effect sizes were conducted to evaluate data.
HADS values were available from n = 63 HPs with a terminally ill partner and n = 262 HPs with a partner, who survived 12 months or longer after T0. Overall, the groups were similar apart from the distribution of sex. Distress was high in all subgroups but was especially elevated for HPs with a terminally ill partner. The trajectory of distress was influenced by their partner's survival status and their intervention group allocation. Distress decreased in all subgroups except for HPs with a terminally ill partner not receiving the intervention.
HPs with a partner in the end-of-life phase are an especially vulnerable subgroup. Family-SCOUT appears beneficial for even highly distressed subgroups, although further research on the cause and the course of their distress is essential.
gov, NCT04186923, 4th of December 2019, retrospectively registered.
晚期癌症患者的照料者被认为面临着更高的严重心理困扰风险。本研究考察了照顾处于临终阶段伴侣和受抚养子女的健康父母（HP）的心理困扰情况，以及家庭-侦察兵干预如何影响他们的困扰过程。
本分析利用了多中心、准实验、非随机、非盲法的家庭-侦察兵干预研究的数据。根据T0（研究入组）后12个月其伴侣的生存状况以及他们被分配到干预组或对照组，将HP分为亚组。在T0和T2（随访9个月）时使用医院焦虑抑郁量表（HADS）评估心理困扰。进行阈值分析、t检验、重复测量方差分析和效应量分析以评估数据。
有n = 63名伴侣处于晚期的HP和n = 262名伴侣在T0后存活12个月或更长时间的HP的HADS值可用。总体而言，除性别分布外，各亚组相似。所有亚组的困扰程度都很高，但伴侣处于晚期的HP尤其严重。困扰轨迹受其伴侣的生存状况和干预组分配的影响。除未接受干预的伴侣处于晚期的HP外，所有亚组的困扰程度均有所下降。
伴侣处于临终阶段的HP是一个特别脆弱的亚组。家庭-侦察兵干预似乎对即使是困扰程度很高的亚组也有益，尽管对其困扰的原因和过程进行进一步研究至关重要。
gov，NCT04186923，2019年12月4日，回顾性注册。
