Caring burden and quality of life of family caregivers in patients undergoing hemodialysis: A descriptive-analytic study

Background: Caring role, especially in chronic diseases, has a negative impact on the health of family caregivers and can affect their quality of life.Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the care burden and quality of life in family caregivers of hemodialysis patients and their relationship with some characteristics of caregivers and patients.Methods: This study was conducted as a descriptive-analytic study in Isfahan from January to February 2017.Sampling was done using census.The number of participants was 254.The data gathering tools consisted of a three-part questionnaire including demographic characteristics, the Zarit questionnaire for caring burden, and SF-36 quality of life questionnaire.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient test, Spearman�s coefficient, ANOVA, and univariate general linear regression.A significant level of 5 was considered.Results: The mean scores of the quality of life and caring burden were 30.4±9.9 and 44.8±6.2, respectively in caregivers.The age of the patient under care (P<0.01), cost of medications (P=0.08), and hours of care in 24 hours (P<0.01) had a significant relationship with care givers� quality of life.Also, univariate general linear regression revealed that care burden had a significant relationship with the quality of life (P=0.03).Conclusion: Family caregivers who experienced more caring burden had a low quality of life.The researchers suggest that supportive and educational programs should be designed and implemented for this group of patients and their caregivers. © 2019, Shriaz University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Nutritional challenges of gastric cancer patients from the perspectives of patients, family caregivers, and health professionals: a qualitative study

Purpose: This study aims to explore the perceptions of gastric cancer patients, their family caregivers, physicians, and nurses of nutritional challenges. Methods: Using a descriptive qualitative method, this study was conducted in 2019�2020. Twenty participants (6 patients, 6 family caregivers, 3 physicians, and 5 nurses) were selected through purposive sampling. Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and examined using qualitative content analysis. Results: Data analysis revealed three categories, each with two subcategories: eating, an unpleasant experience that contains �a feeling like hyperemesis gravidarum� and �childish food excuses�; flexibility while adhering to a proper diet, which consists of �dietary dos and don�ts� and �nutritional leniency�; and nutrition with distress that contains �patient�s sense of being an extra burden� and �provision of nutrition with suffering in caregivers.� Conclusion: Because of the significant physical and psychological impact of nutritional problems on patients and their caregivers, the need to provide care and education to these patients and their families using a multidisciplinary team is becoming more important. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature