Abstract
We aimed to describe the characteristics of caregivers with cancer compared to those without and analyze the association between having cancer and caregivers’ psychological distress in Japan. We used data from the Japanese Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in 2010, 2013, and 2016. The participants were 5258 family caregivers aged ≥40 years, caring for only one family member whose information in the dataset was available for all the covariates included in the model. The family caregivers’ psychological distress was defined by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score (K6 ≥ 5). We conducted a Poisson regression analysis to examine the association between having cancer and family caregivers’ distress. The sample of family caregivers consisted of mostly females (69.3%) and people within the 40–64 years age group (51.8%). As a result, family caregivers with cancer increased across the survey periods; a higher number of participants were unemployed. When adjusted for covariates, including the presence of other diseases, having cancer was significantly associated with distress (risk ratio 1.33, 95% confidence interval 1.05–1.69) among family caregivers. Family caregivers with cancer are expected to increase in the future; it is important to provide them with more support in managing both their treatment and caregiving to cope with their distress.
Highlights
People live longer with more chronic conditions or other disabilities [1], and the need for long-term care is ever increasing
This study aimed to describe the characteristics of family caregivers with cancer compared to those without and analyze the association between having cancer and family caregivers’ psychological distress in Japan
Caregivers with cancer presented with higher distress than the ones without cancer
Summary
People live longer with more chronic conditions or other disabilities [1], and the need for long-term care is ever increasing. In Japan, long-term care insurance (LTCI) started in 2000 and has assisted aged persons with disabilities. Services have been attempted to reduce the burden on family caregivers indirectly, they are still the preferred individuals to care for older adults [2]. There is concern about many issues related to family caregiving [2], including the aging of family caregivers [3,4,5]. Their health becomes an important issue for the family caregivers themselves and the whole caregiving process [6].
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