Do clinical trials affect anxiety, depression, and quality of life in the caregivers of patients with cancer?

Xiaotong Guo; Lede Lin; Xiaohua Qiu; Meng Tian; Jiang Zhu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.950787

Do clinical trials affect anxiety, depression, and quality of life in the caregivers of patients with cancer?

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 23:13:950787. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.950787. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiaotong Guo¹, Lede Lin², Xiaohua Qiu³, Meng Tian⁴, Jiang Zhu^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Thoracic Oncology, West China Hospital, West China Medical Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Laboratory of Reconstructive Urology, Department of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
³ Department of Thoracic Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Law School of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ Department of Medical Oncology, Shangjin Nanfu Hospital, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of clinical trials on anxiety, depression, and the quality of life experienced by the family caregivers (FCs) of cancer patients.

Materials and methods: We screened the FCs of patients who were participating in clinical trials and FCs of patients who were not participating in clinical trials [group FCs-GCP (FG) and group FCs-non-GCP (FNG) at Cancer Center of West China Hospital]. We assessed the anxiety, depression, and quality of life of the FCs using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and SF-12. The demographic characteristics of FCs and patients were analyzed.

Results: The prevalences of anxiety and depression showed no significant difference between FG and FNG (46.3 vs. 51.5%, P = 0.604; 36.6 vs. 51.5%, P = 0.131, respectively). Physical Component Scores (PCS) were 48.87 ± 7.67 for FG and 48.01 ± 8.12 for FNG (P = 0.618) while Mental Component Scores (MCS) were 48.92 ± 7.78 and 44.89 ± 11.42, respectively (P = 0.031). The anxiety of FCs was positively associated with patients' advanced disease (HR 4.292 [1.409, 13.072], P = 0.010) and initial treatment (HR 3.105 [1.014, 9.515], P = 0.047). Depression was positively related to advanced disease (HR 3.347 [1.140, 9.832], P = 0.028), and negatively related to patients participating in clinical trials (HR 0.421 [0.180, 0.985], P = 0.046) and the education degree of FCs (HR 0.355 [0.149, 0.843], P = 0.019). MCS was positively associated with patients participating in clinical trials (β = 5.067, 95% CI [0.817, 9.317], P = 0.020) and negatively associated with advanced disease (β = -8.055, 95% CI [-19.804, 6.528], P = 0.002).

Conclusion: The FCs of the cancer patients who participated in clinical trials showed a comparable worrying situation of anxiety and depression to the FCs of regular cancer patients. This indicates that more concern and attention should be given to this population, and further study on them is warranted.

Keywords: anxiety; clinical trials; depression; family caregiver; quality of life.