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KMID : 0384320050260120752
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Korean Journal of Family Medicine
2005 Volume.26 No. 12 p.752 ~ p.758
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Depression Level among Family Caregivers of Terminal Cancer Patients
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Han Kyung-Hee
Jung Jin-Gyu
Oh Sun-Kun
Kim Jong-Sung
Kim Sung-Soo
Kim Sam-Yong
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Abstract
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Background: As the importance of the quality of life is emphasiged in our society, efforts to improve the quality of life in the field of medicine have intensified.
Terminal cancer patients, facing death, need not only biomedical therapy, but also systematic and continuous treatments such as mental or psycho-social intervention.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the family caregiver’s depression level and the associated factors.
Methods: The survey was conducted with 52 family caregivers of the terminal cancer patients who had been hospitalized at Chungnam National University
Hospital from October 2003 to June 2004. The questionnaire consisted of the general characteristics of the subjects, BDI (Beck’s Depression Inventory) evaluating
the depression level and family APGAR score evaluating the family function.
Results: The mean age of the subjects was 50.4 years. The relationship with patients as ’spouse’ accounted for 30 individuals (57.7%). The mean (±SD) BDI score
was 24.0 (±10.9) points and 57.7 percent of the subjects were suggested to have depression tendency (≥21 point). There was no relationship between the caregiver’s depression level and their gender, religion, household income and family APGAR score. However, the depression level was significant related to the total caregiving duration (P=0.001), visiting frequency of visitors (P=0.004) and caregiving hours per day (P=0.005).
Conclusion: More than half of the family caregivers were suggested to have depression tendency. The depression level as influenced by the burden of caregiving
and the visiting frequency of visitors. There is a need to activate social resources to share the burden of caregiving and to develop continuous and comprehensive
care for terminal cancer patients and their families. (J Korean Acad Fam Med 2005;26:752-758)
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KEYWORD
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cancer, caregiver, depression
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