Quality of Life of Family Members Living with Cancer Patients

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Due to the rapid progress of industrialization, the expansion of the nuclear family, and anincrease in women’s social activities, the burden of care of cancer patients has increased, so that all familymembers are now involved in care. We compared the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between membersof families of cancer patients (hereafter, cancer families) and members of cancer-free families (non-cancerfamilies). Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: The data were from the Community Health Survey (2012). The studypopulation included respondents at least 30 years of age. Data were adjusted for the following covariates:sex, age, education, marital status, household income, economic activity, household type, chronic disease, andperceived health status. Frequency analysis, analyses of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis wereperformed. <br/><b>Results</b>: Among 163,495 respondents, 3,406 (2.1%) were part of a cancer family and 160,089 (97.9%)were part of a non-cancer family. Cancer families had lower EQ-5D scores than non-cancer families. However,by subgroup, the scores had significant association between cancer and non-cancer families only for females andfor those who worked. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: There was a significant relationship between HRQOL scores and being afamily member of a cancer patient. This indicates that the responsibility for care has been extended to the entirefamily, not only the primary caregiver.