Browsing by Author "Soto Guerrero, Sebastián"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Association between after death caregiver reported quality of dying and patient reported quality of life during end-of-life in dyads attending to outpatient palliative care at a public hospital in Santiago, Chile
    (2023) Soto Guerrero, Sebastián; Pérez Cruz, Pedro; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Escuela de Medicina
    Context: Improving quality of dying (QOD) is key in Palliative Care (PC). It is unknown whether family caregivers (FCs) after-death assessment is associated with patient reported quality of life (QOL) during end-of-life.Objectives: To assess the relationship between family caregivers’ evaluation of the dying experience with the overall QOL that patients with advanced cancer reported during the time close to death in a Latino community.Methods: In this longitudinal study, dyads of advanced cancer patients and their FCs were enrolled from a PC Unit in Santiago, Chile. Dyads completed a baseline questionnaire and were followed-up until patients’ death. FCs were contacted to complete questionnaires regarding to death and dying experience. Simple and multivariate analysis were performed to evaluate associations of interest.Results: Two hundred eight dyads were enrolled during the study period. Of the total, seventy-seven dyads were analyzed. FCs were on average 48 years old and 70% female, while patients’ median age was 65 years, 51% being males, and the most common cancer was gastrointestinal. In the univariate analysis, FCs reported QOD was associated with patients’ QOL and with caregiver satisfaction with care. In multivariate analysis, the association between QOD and QOL remained significant.Conclusion: QOD is independently associated with patient QOL during the last month of life, when adjusted by caregiver satisfaction and caregiver depression and anxiety. Therefore, QOD could be used as a surrogate for patient QOL.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Objective burden, caregiver psychological distress, and patient religion and quality of life are associated with high-intensity burden of care among caregivers of advanced cancer patients in a Latino population
    (2023) Soto Guerrero, Sebastián; Palacios, Josefa; Langer, Paola; Carrasco, Cecilia; Tupper-Satt, Laura; González-Otaíza, Marcela; Rodríguez Núñez, Alfredo; Pérez Cruz, Pedro
    Objectives: Family caregivers (FCs) of cancer patients experience burden of care. The aims of this study are to describe the caregiving phenomenon among FCs of advanced cancer patients in a Latino community and to identify caregiver and atient characteristics associated with high-intensity subjective caregiver burden. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, advanced cancer patient–caregiver dyads assessed at a Palliative Care Unit in Santiago, Chile, enrolled in a longitudinal observational study were included. FCs completed questions to describe the caregiving phenomenon and surveys to assess burden of care, psychological distress, and perception of patients’ symptoms; patients completed surveys to assess physical distress and quality of life (QOL). We explored associations between high-intensity subjective caregiver burden with caregiver and patient variables. Results: Two hundred seven dyads were analyzed. FCs were on average 50 years old and 75% female. Thirty-two percent of FCs experienced high-intensity subjective burden of care. Eighty two percent of FCs took care of the patient daily and 31% took care of the patient alone. In univariate analysis, high-intensity caregiver burden was associated with caregiver depression (59% vs. 27%; p < 0.001), anxiety (86% vs. 67%; p = 0.003), caring for the patient alone (45% vs. 24%; p = 0.002), perception of patient symptom distress, patient religion, and worse patient QOL (mean [standard deviation] 58 [33] vs. 68 [27]; p = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, FC depression (OR [95% confidence interval] 3.07 [1.43–6.60]; p = 0.004), anxiety (3.02 [1.19–7.71]; p = 0.021), caring for the patient alone (2.69 [1.26–5.77]; p = 0.011), caregiver perception of patient’s fatigue (1.26 [1.01–1.58]; p = 0.04), and patient’s religion (3.90 [1.21–12.61]; p = 0.02) were independently associated with caregiver burden. Significance of results: FCs of advanced cancer patients in a Latino community frequently experience high-intensity burden of care and are exposed to measures of objective burden. High-intensity burden is associated with both caregiver and patient factors. Policies should aim to make interventions on patient–caregiver dyads to decrease caregiving burden among Latinos.