Table 3 Comparisons of family caregivers regarding levels of distress, depressive and anxiety symptoms
|  | Distress (N = 232) | Anxiety symptoms (N = 224) | Depressive symptoms (N = 226) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Below severe (DT < 8) | Severe (DT ≥ 8) |  | None/Mild (GAD-7 < 10) | Moderate/Severe (GAD-7 ≥ 10) |  | None/Mild (PHQ-9 < 10) | Moderate/Severe (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) |  | |
n (%) | n (%) | p | n (%) | n (%) | p | n (%) | n (%) | p | |
Family caregiver sociodemographic factors | |||||||||
 Age (M, SD) | 55.3 (15.8) | 55.1 (14.3) | .563 a | 55.0 (14.3) | 54.6 (14.8) | .832 a | 56.4 (14.3) | 52.6 (14.7) | .058 a |
 Age categories | |||||||||
  ≤ 60 | 45 (60.0) | 95 (63.3) | .627 b | 72 (64.3) | 68 (64.8) | .942 b | 78 (57.4) | 62 (74.7) | .010 b |
  > 60 | 30 (40.0) | 55 (36.7) | 40 (35.7) | 37 (35.2) | 58 (42.6) | 21 (25.3) | |||
 Gender | |||||||||
  Male | 26 (33.3) | 53 (35.1) | .790 b | 51 (43.6) | 26 (25.0) | .004 b | 60 (43.8) | 19 (22.1) | .001 b |
  Female | 52 (66.7) | 98 (64.9) | 66 (56.4) | 78 (75.0) | 77 (56.2) | 67 (77.9) | |||
 Relationship to the patient | |||||||||
  Spouse/partner | 46 (58.2) | 98 (64.1) | .386 b | 65 (55.1) | 73 (68.9) | .034 b | 82 (59.0) | 58 (66.7) | .248 b |
  Other | 33 (41.8) | 55 (35.9) | 53 (44.9) | 33 (31.1) | 57 (41.0) | 29 (33.3) | |||
 Having a partnership | |||||||||
  Yes | 67 (84.8) | 135 (88.8) | .383 b | 101 (86.3) | 95 (89.6) | .451 b | 123 (88.5) | 75 (87.2) | .774 |
  No | 12 (15.2) | 17 (11.2) | 16 (13.7) | 11 (10.4) | 16 (11.5) | 11 (12.8) | |||
 Having children | |||||||||
  Yes | 57 (74.0) | 107 (70.9) | .615 b | 76 (66.1) | 80 (76.2) | .099 b | 95 (69.3) | 64 (75.3) | .339 b |
  No | 20 (26.0) | 44 (29.1) | 39 (33.9) | 25 (23.8) | 42 (30.7) | 21 (24.7) | |||
 Religious confession | |||||||||
  Yes | 53 (69.7) | 100 (65.8) | .550 b | 77 (67.0) | 68 (64.8) | .732 b | 92 (68.1) | 55 (63.2) | .448 b |
  No | 23 (30.3) | 52 (34.2) | 38 (33.0) | 37 (35.2) | 43 (31.9) | 32 (36.8) | |||
 Educational level | |||||||||
  Elementary school (≤ 9 years) | 22 (28.8) | 43 (28.7) | .554 b | 30 (26.1) | 33 (31.4) | .211 b | 36 (26.5) | 28 (32.6) | .379 b |
  Junior high school (10 years) | 28 (35.9) | 44 (29.3) | 31 (27.0) | 35 (33.3) | 40 (29.4) | 28 (32.6) | |||
  High school (12–13 years) | 28 (35.9) | 63 (42.0) | 54 (47.0) | 37 (35.2) | 60 (44.1) | 30 (34.9) | |||
 Working situation | |||||||||
  Working (full- or part-time) | 44 (57.9) | 86 (58.9) | .885 b | 71 (61.7) | 58 (57.4) | .519 b | 78 (58.2) | 52 (61.9) | .588 b |
  Not working c | 32 (42.1) | 60 (41.1) | 44 (38.3) | 43 (42.6) | 56 (41.8) | 32 (38.1) | |||
 Monthly household net income | |||||||||
  < 2250 € | 23 (31.9) | 49 (35.0) | .775 b | 33 (29.5) | 39 (40.6) | .034 b | 40 (31.7) | 83 (38.6) | .429 b |
  2250€ - ≤ 4000€ | 30 (41.7) | 60 (42.9) | 45 (40.2) | 42 (43.8) | 53 (42.1) | 35 (42.2) | |||
  4000 € and more | 19 (26.4) | 31 (22.1) | 34 (30.4) | 15 (15.6) | 33 (26.2) | 16 (19.3) | |||
 Socio-economic status | |||||||||
  Low | 16 (20.3) | 28 (18.8) | .434 b | 18 (15.3) | 24 (23.5) | .113 b | 18 (13.2) | 24 (27.9) | .025 b |
  Middle | 42 (53.2) | 69 (46.3) | 55 (46.6) | 51 (50.0) | 71 (52.2) | 37 (43.0) | |||
  High | 21 (26.6) | 52 (34.9) | 45 (38.1) | 27 (26.5) | 47 (34.6) | 25 (29.1) | |||
 Perceived social support | |||||||||
  Poor/moderate | 41 (52.6) | 92 (60.1) | .271 b | 60 (51.3) | 69 (65.1) | .037 b | 71 (51.4) | 58 (66.7) | .025 b |
  Strong | 37 (47.4) | 61 (39.9) | 57 (48.7) | 37 (34.9) | 67 (48.6) | 29 (33.3) | |||
Patient characteristics | |||||||||
 Age | |||||||||
  ≤ 60 years | 16 (20.3) | 59 (39.1) | .004 b | 32 (27.4) | 40 (38.1) | .088 b | 41 (29.9) | 32 (36.8) | .286 b |
  > 60 years | 63 (79.7) | 92 (60.9) | 85 (72.6) | 65 (61.9) | 96 (70.1) | 55 (63.2) | |||
 Time between cancer diagnosis and admission to SIPC ward | |||||||||
  ≤ 12 months | 32 (42.7) | 67 (45.0) | .744 b | 47 (41.2) | 51 (50.0) | .196 b | 58 (43.0) | 41 (49.4) | .354 b |
  > 12 months | 43 (57.3) | 82 (55.0) | 67 (58.8) | 51 (50.0) | 77 (57.0) | 42 (50.6) | |||
Care-related aspects | |||||||||
 Care situation prior admission to SIPC ward | |||||||||
  At home | 47 (60.3) | 89 (58.9) | .848 b | 72 (62.1) | 59 (56.2) | .374 b | 89 (64.5) | 42 (49.4) | .026 b |
  Other | 31 (39.7) | 62 (41.1) | 44 (37.9) | 46 (43.8) | 49 (35.5) | 43 (50.6) | |||
 Family caregiver cared for the patient prior admission to SIPC ward | |||||||||
  Yes | 34 (44.7) | 73 (49.0) | .545 b | 53 (45.7) | 53 (51.0) | .435 b | 67 (50.4) | 38 (44.2) | .429 b |
  No | 42 (55.3) | 76 (51.0) | 63 (54.3) | 51 (49.0) | 68 (49.6) | 48 (55.8) | |||
 Utilization of psychosocial counseling prior admission to SIPC ward | |||||||||
  Yes | 16 (20.3) | 42 (27.5) | .230 b | 26 (22.0) | 32 (30.2) | .164 b | 29 (20.9) | 28 (32.2) | .057 b |
  No | 63 (79.7) | 111 (72.5) | 92 (78.0) | 74 (69.8) | 110 (79.1) | 59 (67.8) | |||
 Family caregiver’s exhaustion d | |||||||||
  Yes |  |  |  | 71 (61.7) | 96 (94.1) | <.001 b | 42 (31.6) | 9 (10.5) | <.001 b |
  No |  |  |  | 44 (38.3) | 6 (5.9) | 91 (68.4) | 77 (89.5) | ||
 Family caregiver’s sleep disturbances d | |||||||||
  Yes |  |  |  | 73 (62.9) | 87 (85.3) | <.001 b | 85 (63.0) | 75 (88.2) | <.001 b |
  No |  |  |  | 43 (37.1) | 15 (14.7) | 50 (37.0) | 10 (11.8) | ||
Family caregiver’s satisfaction with palliative care and perceived palliative care outcome | |||||||||
 Palliative care outcome (IPOS) - Total score (M, SD) | 36.6 (8.3) | 38.6 (7.4) | .088 a | 36.4 (7.8) | 39.6 (7.4) | .004 a | 36.9 (7.4) | 39.8 (7.9) | .008 a |
 Satisfaction with palliative care (FAMCARE-2) - Total score (M, SD) | 71.1 (10.6) | 75.0 (8.8) | .008 a | 73.0 (10.4) | 74.3 (8.7) | .358 a | 73.5 (9.9) | 73.7 (9.2) | .358 a |