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Family Caregivers’ Awareness of Illness and Attitude Toward Disclosure During Chemotherapy for Advanced Cancer
Annals of Oncology 25 (Supplement 4): iv471–iv477, 2014 doi:10.1093/annonc/mdu350.14
palliative care 1350P
FAMILY CAREGIVERS’ AWARENESS OF ILLNESS AND ATTITUDE TOWARD DISCLOSURE DURING CHEMOTHERAPY FOR ADVANCED CANCER
abstracts
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/annonc/article-abstract/25/suppl_4/iv475/2242046 by guest on 24 October 2019
S.H. Byun1, S. Kim1, Y. Ko1, S.Y. Kwon2, J.H. Cheon3, D.Y Shin3, C.H. Kim4, S. H. Yang3, S.J Cho5, I.I. Na3 1 Department of Family Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 2 Hospice center, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 3 Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 4 Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 5 Department of Psychiatry, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA
Aim: We investigated family caregivers’ awareness of disease status and attitude toward disclosure of disease progression compared with those of cancer patients and explored the potential association between family caregivers’ attitudes and patients’ Quality of Life (QOL). Methods: We carried out a survey using self-administered questionnaires answered by pairs of family caregivers and patients diagnosed with advanced cancer (n = 136 pairs). To assess patients’ QOL, we used the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire. Results: More than half of family caregivers (54%) did not have full knowledge of patients’ advanced stage and goal of therapy. Positive attitudes toward disclosure were less common in family caregivers than in patients (59.4% and 85.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). The family caregivers’ positive attitudes toward disclosure were inversely associated with patients’ low functional scores (emotion [ p = 0.04], cognition [ p = 0.02]) and high symptom scores (nausea and vomiting, pain, and insomnia, p-value < 0.05). However, in most QOL scales, patients’ attitudes were not significantly associated with functioning and symptom scores. Conclusions: A large portion of family caregivers may not know patients’ exact status in Korea. This study also suggests that the family caregivers’ attitudes may differ from patients’ and may be associated with patients’ QOL. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
© European Society for Medical Oncology 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected].
palliative care 1350P
FAMILY CAREGIVERS’ AWARENESS OF ILLNESS AND ATTITUDE TOWARD DISCLOSURE DURING CHEMOTHERAPY FOR ADVANCED CANCER
abstracts
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/annonc/article-abstract/25/suppl_4/iv475/2242046 by guest on 24 October 2019
S.H. Byun1, S. Kim1, Y. Ko1, S.Y. Kwon2, J.H. Cheon3, D.Y Shin3, C.H. Kim4, S. H. Yang3, S.J Cho5, I.I. Na3 1 Department of Family Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 2 Hospice center, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 3 Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 4 Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA 5 Department of Psychiatry, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, KOREA
Aim: We investigated family caregivers’ awareness of disease status and attitude toward disclosure of disease progression compared with those of cancer patients and explored the potential association between family caregivers’ attitudes and patients’ Quality of Life (QOL). Methods: We carried out a survey using self-administered questionnaires answered by pairs of family caregivers and patients diagnosed with advanced cancer (n = 136 pairs). To assess patients’ QOL, we used the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire. Results: More than half of family caregivers (54%) did not have full knowledge of patients’ advanced stage and goal of therapy. Positive attitudes toward disclosure were less common in family caregivers than in patients (59.4% and 85.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). The family caregivers’ positive attitudes toward disclosure were inversely associated with patients’ low functional scores (emotion [ p = 0.04], cognition [ p = 0.02]) and high symptom scores (nausea and vomiting, pain, and insomnia, p-value < 0.05). However, in most QOL scales, patients’ attitudes were not significantly associated with functioning and symptom scores. Conclusions: A large portion of family caregivers may not know patients’ exact status in Korea. This study also suggests that the family caregivers’ attitudes may differ from patients’ and may be associated with patients’ QOL. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
© European Society for Medical Oncology 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected].