| Research Purpose:To understand the status quo of anticipatory grief and social support among primary family caregivers of cancer patients;analyze the influence of general data on anticipatory grief and social support,identify the main influencing factors;explore the relationship between anticipatory grief and social support of primary family caregivers of cancer patients.Further to provide a basis for constructing the corresponding social support intervention program for primary family caregivers of cancer patients with anticipatory grief,effectively alleviating anticipatory grief of caregivers through social support in practice,and improving the physical and mental health of them.Research Methods:From May to October 2019,a total of 250 primary family caregivers of cancer patients who met the inclusion criteria in the Department of Oncology and Department of Gastrointestinal,Thyroid and Breast Surgery of a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou were selected to participate in this study by convenient sampling.General data questionnaire,anticipatory grief scale(AGS)and social support rating scale(SSRS)were used for questionnaire survey.IBM SPSS 24.0 software was used to analyze the data statistically.The data of caregivers and patients as well as the status quo of anticipatory grief and social support were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis;the multiple choice questions of SSRS were analyzed by multiple response analysis;independent sample t-test,one-way ANOVA or nonparametric test was used to analyze the differences in the total score of anticipatory grief and the scores of social support as well as its dimensions of primary family caregivers in different general data;spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between anticipatory grief and social support;multiple linear stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the main influencing factors of anticipatory grief and social support of primary family caregivers.Research Results:1.A total of 229 primary family caregivers of cancer patients were included in the analysis.The total score of anticipatory grief scale of them was(77.83±10.00).The median and quartile of scores for each dimension are as follows: score of sadness was 13.00(11.00,15.00),score of “sense of loss” was 20.00(19.00,22.00),score of anger was 7.00(6.00,8.00),and score of irritability was 8.00(7.00,9.00),score of guilt was 11.00(10.00,13.00),score of anxiety was 10.00(8.00,11.00),score of “ability to complete tasks” was 8.00(7.00,9.00).Rank the scores of each dimension with the median of the average score of the items,“sense of loss” scored the highest with a score of 4.00(3.80,4.40),and “irritability” scored the lowest with a score of 2.00(1.75,2.25).2.The total scores of anticipatory grief were significantly different according to primary family caregivers' gender,age,education level,working status,personality,condition of chronic disease,family history of malignant tumor,bereavement experience of immediate family members,relationship with patients,duration of continuous care,reasons for participating in care and patients' gender,cancer diagnosis,cancer staging,treatment method(P<0.05).3.The total score of social support of primary family caregivers of cancer patients was(36.26 ±8.59),which was slightly higher than the domestic norm(P<0.05).The median and quartile of scores for each dimension are as follows: score of subjective support was 24.00(20.00,28.00),score of objective support was 7.00(5.00,9.00)and score of “utilization of support” was 5.00(4.00,7.00).Rank the scores of each dimension with the median of the average score of the items,the score of subjective support was the highest,which was 6.00(5.00,7.00),and the score of “utilization of support” was the lowest,which was 1.67(1.33,2.33).Family members were the main source of subjective and objective support of caregivers.4.The total scores of social support and the scores of objective support were significantly different in primary family caregivers' general data such as gender,working status,family per capita monthly income,personality,family history of malignant tumor,bereavement experience of immediate family members,relationship with patients,duration of continuous care and reasons for participating in care.In terms of patients' data,the total scores of social support were different in age,cancer staging,treatment method and payment type of cancer patients,and the objective support scores were different in cancer diagnosis,cancer staging,treatment method and payment type.The subjective support scores were different in caregiver's gender,personality,religious belief,family history of malignant tumor,bereavement experience of immediate family members,relationship with patients,duration of continuous care and patients' age and payment type.The scores of “utilization of support” were varied with caregivers' education,working status,family per capita monthly income,personality,condition of chronic diseases,family history of malignant tumors,bereavement experience of immediate family members,relationship with patients,duration of continuous care,reasons for participating in care,and patients' cancer diagnosis,cancer staging as well as treatment method.The difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).5.The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the total score of anticipatory grief and the total score of social support of primary family caregivers of cancer patients(r=-0.643,P<0.01).Correlations between the scores of all dimensions of anticipatory grief and the scores of all dimensions of social support were negative.6.The results of multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that social support,responsibility and obligation,family history of malignant tumors,extroverted personality,gender of caregivers,mixed personality,bereavement experience of immediate family members,cancer staging and children had significant effects on anticipatory grief of caregivers(P<0.05).Family history of malignant tumor,responsibility and obligation,new-type rural cooperative medical insurance system,age of patients,operation and parents had significant effects on social support of caregivers(P<0.05).Research Conclusion:1.Primary family caregivers of cancer patients generally have a certain degree of anticipatory grief,among which “sense of loss” is the major emotional expression.2.According to the degree of influence,the main influencing factors of anticipatory grief of primary family caregivers of cancer patients are: social support,reasons for participating in care,family history of malignant tumors,personality,gender of caregivers,bereavement experience of immediate family members,cancer staging and relationship with patients.3.The primary family caregivers of cancer patients have a medium level of social support,with the highest level of subjective support and the lowest level of “utilization of support”.4.According to the degree of influence,the main influencing factors of social support of primary family caregivers of cancer patients are: family history of malignant tumor,reasons for participating in care,payment type,age of patients,treatment method and relationship with patients.5.Anticipatory grief of primary family caregivers of cancer patients is negatively correlated with social support.Improving the level of social support of caregivers can significantly reduce the degree of anticipatory grief. |
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