Caregiver Characteristics Associated With Cognitive Complaints in Women With Breast Cancer.
Yesol Yang, Victoria Poillucci, Deborah Allen and 3 others
PMID 34143002WHAT IT FOUND
Caregiver burden and health were associated with breast cancer patients' reported cognitive complaints during chemotherapy.
Patient anxiety, depression, and fatigue were also associated with impairment. The study cannot show cause.
Key findings
01Patients reported less perceived cognitive impairment when caregivers had better mental health, better general health, and lower burden.
02Caregiver burden was significantly associated with patients' perceived cognitive ability scores in the regression model.
03Patient depression partly accounted for the link between caregiver general health and perceived cognitive impairment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design cannot show whether caregiver characteristics influence patient cognitive complaints over time. The study was done at a single outpatient oncology center. The sample was small and relatively homogeneous, so results may not generalize to all patient-caregiver dyads.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as evidence that helping caregivers will improve patients' cognitive complaints. The study was cross-sectional and cannot show cause or effect.