A Study on assessment of the severity and the prevalence of Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life in caregivers of patients with cancer.

Abstract

Background: Caregivers plays a role in caring of the cancer patients. They may experience psychological problems such as depression, anxiety which in turn results in decrease in the quality of life. Such people cannot effectively fulfill their role as a caregiver which in turn affects the overall treatment outcome of cancer patients. Aims: The study was done for the purpose of assessesment of the depression and anxiety prevalence in caregivers and to determine the quality of the life in caregivers. Methodology: It was a cross sectional study conducted in caregivers of cancer patients. A total of 100 subjects were recruited in to the study. They were administered with socio-demographic proforma, MINI neuropsychiatric interview to detect the presence of depression and anxiety. Montgomery asberg depression rating scale to assess the severity of depression, Hamilton anxiety rating scale to assess the severity of anxiety and the caregiver quality of life index –cancer for the assessment of the quality of life in the subjects. Data analysis was done with appropriate tests. Results: The study subjects showed that the majority of the caregivers had severe depression (41%), followed by moderate depression in 34% and mild depression in 25% of the subjects. The anxiety rating scale showed that 69%of subjects had severe anxiety, followed mild anxiety (18%) and moderate anxiety in 13% of the subjects. High scores on depression and anxiety rating scales decreases the scores on the caregiver quality of life scale. Conclusions: Majority of the study subjects showed higher rates of anxiety, depression and decreased quality of life.