The Effect of Caregiving on the Mental Health of Caregivers of People with Cancer in Nyanza, Kenya: Implications for Cancer Care

Introduction: Patients with cancer, just like other patients, need extensive round-the-clock care. Caregiving improves their well-being and quality of life. However, caregiving to people with cancer comes with a lot of challenges and is sometimes a burden to the caregiver. With time, this burden may predispose the caregivers to mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and extent of anxiety and depressive symptoms among caregivers of patients with cancer in the Nyanza Region of Kenya. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Convenience sampling and snowballing were used to recruit 147 study participants. Pretested interview-guided structured questionnaires, slight modifications of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Data was analyzed and visualized using GraphPad Prism version 5.03. Results: The mean age of participants was 41.19 (± 2.510) years, 85(58.1) were females and spent an average of 12.35 (± 1.194) hours providing care daily. The prevalence of anxiety and depression were 28.6% and 32.7% respectively. For anxiety, 56 (38.1%) were normal, 49(33.3%) were borderline abnormal and 42(28.6%) were anxious. For depression, 33(22.4%) were normal, 66(44.9%) were borderline abnormal and 48(32.7%) were depressed. For the self-rating of their mental health status since starting caregiving roles, 47(32.3%) were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 38(25.8%) were strongly satisfied, 33(22.6%) were satisfied, 24(16.1%) were dissatisfied, and 5(3.2%) were strongly dissatisfied. Conclusion: The prevalence and extent of anxiety and depression are relatively high in caregivers of people with cancer compared to the general population. Many caregivers are on the borderline for both anxiety and depression, representing a poor trend in the mental health of this vulnerable group of people. There is a need for continuous mental health screening of caregivers for early diagnosis and treatment. Interventions addressing mental health resilience in caregivers should be a part of cancer care.