Differences in care burden, burnout, depression, quality of life and sleep quality between family members and professional caregivers of palliative care patients.

BACKGROUND: The main aim of our study was to investigate whether there are differences in caregiver burden, burnout, depression, sleep quality and quality of life between family members and professional caregivers of palliative care patients. Furthermore, we examined the impact of burnout, depression, and sleep quality on the burden of care among primary caregivers of palliative care patients. Additionally, we investigated whether there were differences in these parameters among family members according to gender.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved a total of 134 individuals, including 67 palliative patients receiving care from the Palliative Care Service and 67 caregivers who provide primary care to these individuals. The outcome measurements for palliative care patients included falls efficacy, functional independence, quality of life, and cognitive function. For caregivers, the following variables were measured: caregiving burden, burnout, depression, sleep quality, and quality of life.

RESULTS: This study found that family members may experience a higher level of care burden, burnout, depression, sleep difficulties and lower quality of life compared to professional caregivers (p < 0.05). In addition, female family members exhibited worse scores for care burden, sleep quality and quality of life than male family members (p < 0.05). Increased caregiver burden in palliative care patients was associated with increased levels of burnout and depression, as well as sleep disturbance and reduced quality of life (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that providing primary caregivers of palliative care patients with support tailored to their specific needs in terms of burnout, care burden, depression, sleep and quality of life could be an important palliative care service.