FATIGUE AFFECTING FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF CANCER-PATIENTS

Fatigue, a universally reported symptom, may be one of the most preval ent feelings of people suffering from physical or mental diseases. An understanding of the factors leading to fatigue in the caregiving popu lation can contribute to better care and support of both the cancer pa tient and the caregiver. The purpose of this discussion is to investig ate and describe the experience of fatigue among caregivers of cancer patients in relation to caregiver age, employment status, number of ho urs of care provided daily, duration of caregiving, and the impact upo n the caregiver's schedule. A sample of 248 caregivers of cancer patie nts, participating in the Family Homecare Cancer Study, were surveyed regarding fatigue related to their caregiving roles. No relationship w as found between severity of fatigue experienced by the caregiver of t he cancer patient and caregiver age, employment status, the number of hours of daily caregiving, or its duration. However, a significant rel ationship was found between fatigue and the impact of care on the dail y schedule. This finding has strong implications for the health-care p rovider, because the more the caregiver's schedule is a burden, the gr eater will be the fatigue experienced.