Comparison of the Experience of Cancer Patients' Caregivers and Caregivers of Liver Transplant Patients: Quality of Life and the Management of Food Intake

Abstract

This exploratory study investigated and compared a variety of quality-of-life (QOL) components and factors correlating with QOL scores in cancer patients’ caregivers and liver transplant patients’ caregivers. No research comparing these two populations of caregivers had been published previously. In addition, this study explored the experience and behavioral coping tactics for food- and eating-related problems, resulting from cancer and its treatment, using reports from the cancer patients’ caregivers. Reports from cancer and liver transplant patients’ caregivers were also compared to examine and contrast the two groups of patients in relation to this problem area. Participants (16 cancer patients’ caregivers and 20 liver transplant patients’ caregivers) were asked to fill out a set of questionnaires, which included the Healthy Days Core Module of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health-Related Quality of Life-14 "Healthy Days Measure" (CDC HRQOL-4), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (Zung SDS), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Caregiver Quality of Life – Cancer (CQOLC), and Food- and Eating-Related Problems questionnaire created by the investigator. The CQOLC scores indicated higher QOL in the liver transplant caregivers than in the cancer caregivers. The mean score obtained by cancer caregivers was lower than the scores reported in the literature for this population, which may reflect cultural influences specific to Hawaii. In both groups, QOL scores were positively correlated with the Zung SDS scores, SAS scores, and subjective reports of decreased interest in socializing. The analysis of food- and eating-related problems suggested that even though the problem most frequently reported in cancer patients was constipation, their caregivers seemed to concentrate most on lack of appetite; caregivers in the liver transplant group seemed to focus more on fighting nausea.