Abstract
BackgroundThere is a consensus that cancer care should go beyond physical care as cancer patients and their family caregivers experience psychological burden, financial difficulty, as well as social relation issues. The current study aimed to investigate the moderating impact of social support on depression and anxiety of cancer patients and their family caregivers.MethodsGastric cancer patients and their family caregivers who visited a university medical center in Seoul were approached for participation in the study. Fifty-two pairs of adult patients and caregivers participated in the study. Along with demographic information and the physical condition of the patients, such as pre-operation cancer stage and the type of gastrectomy, social support, depression, and anxiety were measured for patients and caregivers, respectively.ResultsIn the first round of analysis, patients’ depression was associated with age, while patients’ anxiety was related to income. On the other hand, caregivers’ depression was not associated with patients’ health and living arrangement. In the second round of analysis to examine the moderating effect of social support, patients’ income and social support were related to depression and anxiety, but the interaction of income and social support was only observed for anxiety. For caregivers, no interaction effects were found. Social support decreased the negative effects of low income status on the patients.ConclusionWhile the income of the families with cancer cannot be adjusted in the short-term, their experience of social support can be managed by a proper support system. Diverse implications in medical settings are discussed.
Highlights
Cancer has been a leading cause of death across continents. 14 million new cases and 8.2 million deaths were related to cancer worldwide [1]
There is a consensus that cancer care should go beyond physical care as cancer patients and their family caregivers experience psychological burden, financial difficulty, as well as social relation issues
Gastric cancer patients and their family caregivers who visited a university medical center in Seoul were approached for participation in the study
Summary
Cancer has been a leading cause of death across continents. 14 million new cases and 8.2 million deaths were related to cancer worldwide [1]. Given the increase in survival for cancer patients, psychosocial factors can have a significant impact on patients as well as their caregivers. Cancer patients with relatively good prognosis, might lose attention and support from those in their social network. This can leave the family caregivers as the sole source of support during the long process of treatment and survivorship. There is a consensus that cancer care should go beyond physical care as cancer patients and their family caregivers experience psychological burden, financial difficulty, as well as social relation issues. The current study aimed to investigate the moderating impact of social support on depression and anxiety of cancer patients and their family caregivers
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