Abstract:

Background: Caring for cancer patients affects both the care burden and quality of life of the caregivers. This study was conducted to determine the care load, quality of life of caregivers who care for cancer patients and the influencing factors. Materials and Methods: This descriptive research which used the Questionnaire Form, Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer Scale and Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale.160 caregivers who agreed to participate in the study composed the sample. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics (number, percentage, mean), Independent Samples t test, Kruskal Wallis test, Mann Whitney U test were used. Results: The mean total burden interview scale score of caregivers was 32.65±15.14 and the mean total caregiver quality of life ındex-cancer scalescore was 78.75±16.31. It was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean total caregiver burden scores according to gender and marital status (p<0.05). There were statistically significant differences between the mean total caregiver burden scores according to the negative affection status of health during caregiving and the mean total life quality scores according to the income stasus (p<0.05). Conclusions: It was determined that the individuals providing care had a mild level of care burden and their quality of life was not at the desired level. For this reason, it may be suggested to carry out the care burden at the desired level and to conduct interventional nursing studies to improve the quality of life. Key Words: Cancer, Care burden, Quality of life, Nursing.

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