癌症與非癌症手術後住院病患照顧者的負荷及其相關因素之初探

Caregiver Burden and Related Factors between Caregivers of Post-surgical Hospitalized Cancer and Non-Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study

本研究的目的在比較癌症與非癌症手術後住院病患主要照顧者之照顧者負荷以及探討影響照顧者負荷的相關因素。藉橫斷描述性的研究方法，採方便取樣的方式，以北部某醫學中心一般外科病房住院病患之照顧者為對象，使用Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) 結構性問卷，共收集35份有效問卷。所收集的資料以描述性統計、Mann-Whitney U test、卡方檢定及Fisher's Exact Test進行資料分析。研究結果發現：(1)照顧者CSI總分之平均值為5.54 (可能分數介於0～13分)；其中半數以上照顧者在「家庭調適」，「時間分配」、「工作調整」、「睡眠干擾」及「情緒調適」等方面感受到壓力。(2)癌患照顧者之CSI總分平均值較非癌患照顧者之CSI平均值為高，但兩者間差異並未達統計上之意義。(3)自覺健康狀況較差與照顧時間較長的照顧者其CSI總分較高，其他的人口學變項亦分別與某些照顧壓力有關。

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare caregiver burden between caregivers of post-surgical hospitalized cancer and non-cancer patients and to examine relationships between caregivers’ characteristics and their burden. A convenience sample of 35 caregivers were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan. The Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) was used to measure the caregiver burden. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, chi square test, and Fisher’s Exact Test. The results showed that: (1) the mean score of CSI was 5.54 with a possible score ranging from 0 to 13. More than 50% of caregivers perceived strain in “family adjustments”, “other time demands”, “work adjustments”, “sleep disturbance”, and “emotional adjustments”; (2) caregivers of cancer patients scored higher in CSI than caregivers of non-cancer patients did, although not significantly; (3) poorer perceived health status and longer duration of caregiving were associated with higher caregiver burden.