Psychological Distress and Caregiver Burden among Oncology Patients and Caregivers

Abstract

Objective – To look into psychological distress in oncology patients, try to evaluate how heavy the caregiver burden feels for primary caregivers, then investigate the connection between patient distress and that caregiver burden as a whole. Method – A cross sectional quantitative study was carried out with 40 oncology patient–caregiver dyads, and they were taken via purposive sampling. For psychological distress we used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and for caregiver burden we used the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-12). Then, we ran descriptive statistics, did Chi-square tests, used Pearson correlation, and also did multiple regression analyses, all through SPSS Version 26. Results – In the study, patients showed clinically relevant anxiety, with a mean of 12.55, and depression, mean = 11.23, which seemed fairly consistent across the sample. Meanwhile caregivers described a moderate to high burden (Mean = 28.32). Also, the time spent caregiving was linked to greater psychological distress (χ² = 28.45, p < .001). When we looked at the relationship between the two outcomes, there was a clear positive correlation between patient psychological distress and caregiver burden (r = .72, p < .001). Then, in the regression analysis, psychological distress came out as the strongest predictor of caregiver burden (β = .934, p < .001). Conclusion – The psychological distress seen in oncology patients appears strongly connected to caregiver burden. Because of this, routine mental health screening, plus family-centered psychosocial supports, should be built into oncology services so that both patients and caregivers get better, not just one group.