Protective factors of burden of care among caregivers of patients with cancer -

Abstract

Due to the large number of people being annually diagnosed with cancer in Lebanon (approximately 7,000 people as reported by the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, Regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 2010) and the high dependency of cancer patients on their caregivers, it became important to investigate the resources that help caregivers of cancer patients in Lebanon to cope with their burden of care. Several research studies have demonstrated a significant association between social support and burden of care as well as mutuality and similar constructs to burden of care. The current study investigated the extent to which spirituality, mutuality, and greater social support, predicted lower levels of burden of care among 111 caregivers of patients with cancer who were recruited from the Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon. The Hierarchal Regression analysis results revealed that after controlling for the socio-demographic variables; spirituality, social support, and mutuality were found to be significant predictors of burden of care. Among the socio-demographic variables only time since diagnosis was significantly associated with burden of care. The clinical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.