Associated Factors with Self-Perceived Burden Level among Cancer Patients in Hebei China, 2022

Abstract

The number of cancer cases and deaths of cancer are increasing year by year [1]. The high cost of cancer treatment and the guilt of patients relying on caregivers for long-term care leads to a high self-perceived burden (SPB) among cancer patients affecting their quality of life, treatment and even cause suicidal ideation [2]. The objective of this study is to determine the level of self-perceived burden (SPB) and its associated factors among cancer patients in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, China. A sample size of 977 cancer patients was recruited using simple random sampling in this cross-sectional study. Self-administered modified questionnaire was used. Independent t test and ANOVA test were used for investigating the association of each factor with SPB. A total of 566 respondents participated in the study, with a response rate of 58.4%. The mean ± SD of SPB total score was 67.75 ± 15.69. The SPB was divided into four dimensions, where the mean economic/family burden dimension was 24.10 ± 6.44, psychological/emotional burden was 18.31 ± 4.92, care burden was 13.33 ± 3.43 and treatment burden was 11.99 ± 3.47. There was significant association between residence, number of children, educational level, caregiver, parents as caregiver, and age of primary caregiver with SPB.
 In conclusion, the SPB score was high and thus, it is recommended that medical staff to pay attention to cancer patients with high SPB and give effective interventions to improve the quality of life and reduce the suicide rate of cancer patients.