Health-related quality of life measured by EQ-5D-3L for the spouses of breast cancer patients

To explore factors influencing the health-related quality of life of spouses of breast cancer patients and the suitable questionnaires for this purpose. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. The spouses of breast cancer patients were included and evaluated via face-to-face interviews. Self-designed demographic characteristics and disease-related questionnaires, the 12-item health survey questionnaire (SF-12), the three-level European five-dimensional health status scale (EQ-5D-3L), and the Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS) were used. The internal consistency reliability measure Cronbach’s coefficient, criterion-related validity, construct validity, and sensitivity were used to evaluate the applicability of the EQ-5D-3L. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to analyze the factors associated with the health-related quality of life of spouses of breast cancer patients. We investigated a total of 100 spouses of breast cancer patients. Cronbach’s α, the internal consistency reliability coefficient, was 0.502. The EQ-5D-3L health utility score was moderately correlated with PCS-12 (r=0.46, p=0.0001) and weakly correlated with MCS-12 (r=0.35, p=0.0001). The EQ-5D-3L health utility score for the spouses of breast cancer patients was 0.870, and the EQ-VAS was 78.3. In multivariate analysis, social support and cognition of the treatment effect were factors that influenced the EQ-5D-3L health utility score. The EQ-5D-3L has good reliability, validity, and sensitivity for measuring the physiological aspects of the health-related quality of life of spouses of BC patients. EQ-5D-3L was considered suitable for this study.

Factors influencing the burden on spousal caregivers of breast cancer survivors

Purpose

To examine the status of spouses’ burdens of caring for breast cancer survivors and explore the relationships between social support, family resilience, breast cancer survivors’ individual resilience, and caregiver burden.

Methods

A cross-sectional study on 315 young and middle-aged breast cancer survivors and their spousal caregivers was conducted at eight comprehensive Southwest China hospitals. The caregivers completed the Chinese Version of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, while breast cancer survivors completed the shortened Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the relationships among social support, family resilience, survivors’ individual resilience, and caregiver burden.

Results

Caregiver burden (45.76 ± 14.66) was found to be severe. Social support, family resilience, and individual resilience were significantly negatively associated with caregiver burden (β =  − 0.421, P < 0.001; β =  − 0.208, P < 0.001; and β =  − 0.444, P < 0.001, respectively). Individual resilience not only partially mediated the relationship between family resilience and caregiver burden (b =  − 0.052; 95% confidence interval, − 0.110, − 0.018), but also partially mediated the relationship between support and caregiver burden (b =  − 0.045; 95% confidence interval, − 0.102, − 0.011).

Conclusions

The findings suggest that higher social support, family resilience, and individual resilience tend to ease caregivers’ burden. Healthcare workers should have an in-depth understanding of the care needs of survivors, actively contact social security departments and social organizations to provide financial, technical, and emotional support, and provide family-based care-skills training and psychological counseling to reduce spousal caregivers’ burdens.

All-cause mortality among Japanese whose cohabiting partners are diagnosed with cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 study

BACKGROUND

It has been noted that not only adverse psychosocial health effects but also mortality might increase for a person living with a spouse with cancer. This study examined the association between a partner's cancer diagnosis and mortality among a Japanese population.

METHODS

In December 2006, a survey was conducted on participants aged 40 years or older who were residing in northeastern Japan. We identified couples using municipality-specific household ID numbers by searching public records and confirmed partner's cancer diagnosis after the baseline measurement using regional cancer registration information. After following up for a maximum of 4.0 years with the participants regarding mortality and emigration by reviewing the Residential Registry Record, we used Cox's proportional hazards regression to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

We identified 25,938 participants (12,969 pairs) and included them in the analyses. A total of 1,308 (5.0%) participants had partners with a cancer diagnosis after baseline. The study found no association between a partner's cancer diagnosis and all-cause mortality; multivariable HRs of all-cause mortality for individuals in exposed subjects compared with those in unexposed subjects were 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.99-1.83; p = .055). Contrarily, sensitivity analyses of mortality attributed to having partners diagnosed with cancer based on the time since entry showed that all-cause mortality significantly increased only within one year from spouse cancer diagnosis; HR = 2.18 (95% CI = 1.44-3.30; p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings reveal that the mortality rate from partner's cancer diagnosis was significantly high during the early period of diagnosis and multidisciplinary teams for cancer treatment might be important for preventing death among the partner.

Functional disability among partners and community activity in elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study

INTRODUCTION

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine association between partners' functional disability and community activity in an elderly Japanese population.

METHODS

A baseline survey was conducted between December 1 st and December 15th, 2006 and included 6600 participants from whom we collected data regarding their participation in community activity and functional disability among their partners. We defined functional disability as receiving certification for long-term care insurance in Japan, and frequent community activity as engaging in community activity more than once a month. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for frequent community activity based on functional disability among partners. We also conducted additional analyses using three types of community activities (neighborhood associations; sports, exercise, or a hobby; and volunteering for nonprofit organizations) as outcomes.

RESULTS

Multivariate adjusted analysis showed that the OR (95% CI) for frequent community activity was 0.70 (0.54-0.89, P < 0.01) among those whose partners had functional disabilities, compared with those whose partners did not have functional disabilities. This finding remained true even for different types of community activities such as neighborhood activities, sports, exercises, hobbies, and volunteering for nonprofit organizations.

CONCLUSION

In this cross-sectional study of an elderly Japanese population, participants whose partners had functional disabilities were less likely to participate in community activity. We conclude that enhancement of support systems is important to promote participation in community activity, not only for patients with disability but their partners as well.