Caregivers’ Stress and Burden among Mothers of Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Feasibility Study

Abstract

Background In India cancer is rated as 9th among the causes of death in children aged 5-14 years. Cancer and its management has always been challenging in all dimensions including physical social psychological and spiritual with mothers majorly facing disturbing family experiences. Parents experience shock denial and the quality of life of the family gets affected.Objective To determine stress and burden among mothers of children with cancer.Methodology The study was conducted using a cross sectional survey design among 60 mothers of children with cancer. The sample was selected using simple random sampling technique according to the inclusion criteria. The data was collected using Kingston Caregiver Stress Scale KCSS and Caregiver Burden Self-Assessment CBSA scale.Results Majority of mothers included in the study were above 30 years of age with a mean age of 33.74plusmn6.51 years a monthly family income of less than Rs 29000- with mean income of 18200plusmn9788.80 per month and belonged to upper lower class. Majority of children with cancer were less than 10 years of age with mean age of 7.51plusmn5.44 years. More than 50 of children were males diagnosed with ALL. A significant association between caregiverrsquos stress and educational qualification of mothers of children with cancer p0.041 was observed. A positive correlation was found between caregiverrsquos stress and burden among mothers of children with cancer.Conclusion Majority of mothers experienced stress and burden due to their childrsquos diagnosis. Hence interventions should be developed and implemented to help mothers deal with their stress.