Caregivers’ Stress and Burden among Mothers of Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Feasibility Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26463/rjns.13_1_7Keywords:
Mother, Cancer children, Stress and burdenAbstract
Background: In India, cancer is rated as 9th among the causes of death in children aged 5-14 years. Cancer and its management has always been challenging in all dimensions including physical, social, psychological and spiritual, with mothers majorly facing disturbing family experiences. Parents experience shock, denial and the quality of life of the family gets affected.
Objective: To determine stress and burden among mothers of children with cancer.
Methodology: The study was conducted using a cross sectional survey design among 60 mothers of children with cancer. The sample was selected using simple random sampling technique according to the inclusion criteria. The data was collected using Kingston Caregiver Stress Scale (KCSS) and Caregiver Burden Self-Assessment (CBSA) scale.
Results: Majority of mothers included in the study were above 30 years of age with a mean age of 33.74±6.51 years, a monthly family income of less than Rs 29,000/- with mean income of 18200±9788.80 per month and belonged to upper lower class. Majority of children with cancer were less than 10 years of age with mean age of 7.51±5.44 years. More than 50% of children were males, diagnosed with ALL. A significant association between caregiver’s stress and educational qualification of mothers of children with cancer (p=0.041) was observed. A positive correlation was found between caregiver’s stress and burden among mothers of children with cancer.
Conclusion: Majority of mothers experienced stress and burden due to their child’s diagnosis. Hence interventions should be developed and implemented to help mothers deal with their stress.
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