Comfort level of caregivers of cancer patients receiving palliative care.
Maisa Vitória Gayoso, Marla Andréia Garcia de Avila, Thays Antunes da Silva and 1 others
PMID 30110105WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of palliative cancer patients reported higher comfort if they were older, had help with care tasks, or if the patient was more functionally independent.
The socio-cultural dimension of comfort was the lowest, suggesting a need for better communication and support from the health team.
Key findings
01Receiving help with care tasks was associated with a 43-point higher overall comfort score.
02Higher patient functional status (Palliative Performance Scale) was associated with higher caregiver comfort.
03Older caregivers reported higher overall comfort, with each additional year of age increasing the score by 1.35 points.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (n=50) and non-probabilistic, limiting generalizability. The study design is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that older age or help with care causes higher comfort. The HCQ-caregiver was administered by the researcher, which may have influenced responses compared to self-administration. The conclusion states the mean score was 'close to the maximum' representing 'good comfort', but the text elsewhere notes the score (4.52) is 'far from reaching the desired score of 6', creating ambiguity about the actual comfort level.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that caregiver comfort is high because the mean score was 4.52 out of 6. The authors explicitly state this value is 'far from reaching the desired score of 6' in the discussion, despite calling it 'good comfort' in the conclusion. The low socio-cultural scores indicate significant unmet needs in communication and social support.