Symptom burden and quality of life among patient and family caregiver dyads in advanced cancer

Katrina R. Ellis, Allison Furgal, Feyisayo Wayas, Alexis Contreras, Carly Jones, Sierra Perez, Dolapo Raji, Madeline Smith, Charlotte Vincent, Lixin Song, Laurel Northouse, Aisha T. Langford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: Symptom management among patients diagnosed with advanced cancer is a high priority in clinical care that often involves the support of a family caregiver. However, limited studies have examined parallel patient and caregiver symptom burden and associations with their own and each other’s quality of life (QOL). This study seeks to identify patient and caregiver symptom clusters and investigate associations between identified clusters and demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors (cognitive appraisals and QOL). Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of self-reported baseline survey data collected from a randomized clinical trial of 484 adult advanced cancer patients and their caregivers. Latent class analysis and factor analysis were used to identify symptom clusters. Bivariate statistics tested associations between symptom clusters and demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables. Results: The most prevalent symptom for patients was energy loss/fatigue and for caregivers, mental distress. Low, moderate, and high symptom burden subgroups were identified at the patient, caregiver, and dyad level. Age, gender, race, income, chronic conditions, cancer type, and treatment type were associated with symptom burden subgroups. Higher symptom burden was associated with more negative appraisals of the cancer and caregiving experience, and poorer QOL (physical, social, emotional, functional, and overall QOL). Dyads whose caregivers had more chronic conditions were more likely to be in the high symptom burden subgroup. Conclusion: Patient and caregiver symptom burden influence their own and each other’s QOL. These findings reinforce the need to approach symptom management from a dyadic perspective.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3027-3038
Number of pages12
JournalQuality of Life Research
Volume33
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2024

Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Caregiver
  • Dyad
  • Quality of life
  • Symptoms

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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