Expected outcome & Application Based on literature, significant burden of care and psychiatric morbidity is expected to be found in the study subjects, with co-relations between advanced stages of cancer and the psychological impact on caregivers. The most commonly detected morbidity is expected to be depression and anxiety. This study will help in diagnosing overt or covert psychological manifestations of caregiving in family members/ caregivers of cancer patients. Timely detection and interventions to address the same would amplify the quality of their caregiving role. Also, understanding the multifaceted nature of burden of care in caregivers will help in formulating the treatment plan for patients more comprehensively.

 Research question(s):  

What are the psychiatric morbidities experienced by care givers of cancer patients?

What is the perceived burden of caregiving in care givers of cancer patients?

Aim and objectives: 

• To study Psychiatric morbidities in caregivers of cancer patients.
• To assess the severity of depressive symptoms in caregivers of cancer patients.
• To assess the severity of anxiety symptoms in caregivers of cancer patients.
• To assess Burden of care in caregivers of cancer patients.
• To study the correlation between caregiver burden and study variables.

 For Patient-

 Who did not give consent to their caregivers to participate in study.

For care givers-

  Those who have a history of major psychiatric disorder (including  substance use disorder)

 History of significant head injury or major medical illness.

STUDY INSTRUMENTS:

1.     ZARIT BURDEN INTERVIEW – ZBI was developed to measure subjective burden amongst caregivers. Items were generated based on clinical experiences with caregiver and prior studies resulting in a 22- item self- report inventory, that examine the burden associated with functional/behavioural  impairment and the homecare situation. Each question is scored on a 5 point like scale ranging from- never to nearly always present. Total scores range from 0 to 88

2.     BECK’S ANXIETY INVENTORY-  BAI measures the common symptoms of anxiety and they ask the subject to define the presence,  absence and severity of their symptoms in last month. The 21 question on the inventory are scored on a scale value of 0-3 and score ranges from 0 to 63.

3.     BECK’S DEPRESSION INVENTORY- BDI is a 21 question multiple choice self report inventory, one of the most widely used instrument to measure the severity of depression. A value of 0-3 is assigned to each answer and score ranges from 0 to 63.

4.     DSM CROSS CUTTING LEVEL I AND II – The DSM 5  cross-cutting symptom measure is intended to help clinician identify additional area of inquiry that may have significant impact on individual treatment and prognosis. This adult version of measure consists of 23 questions that assess 13 psychiatric domains.