Caregiving burden and quality of life in individuals caring for palliative care patients

Introduction: Palliative care is commonly defined as supportive care given to patients and their relatives in life-threatening situations where therapeutic approaches are insufficient. Diseases requiring palliative care are a process that affects the relatives as well as the patient. This can have economic, physical, psychological, and social impacts. Caregivers are directly affected by numerous factors of care burden. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of socio-demographic characteristics of caregivers and care burden on quality of life. Methods: The study was cross-sectional. The study population consisted of the relatives of patients hospitalised in palliative care services in three public hospitals in Samsun between 1 July 2023 and 30 November 2023. No sample calculation was made in the study, and all relatives of patients who agreed to participate in the study were included (n=317). The study data were collected using the “Patient and Caregiver Information Form,” the “Caregiving Burden Scale”, and the “Quality of Life Scale”, which aim to reveal the socio-demographic characteristics of patients and caregivers. Percentage, frequency, correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used in the study. Results: The mean age of the patients was X̄=65.48±11.81, 54.6% were male and 63.7% were being treated for neurological diseases. The mean age of caregivers was X̄=39.8±9.16, 55.2% were female. The mean care burden scale (X̄=51.78) and mean quality of life (X̄=17.77) were determined in the study. A moderate negative relationship was found between care burden and quality of life (r=-0.611, p<0.001). According to the results of multiple regression analysis, it was determined that quality of life was affected by age, degree of closeness and caregiving burden (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was determined that quality of life decreased as the caregiving burden increased.