IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p10479-d650429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association between Having Cancer and Psychological Distress among Family Caregivers Using Three Years of a Nationwide Survey Data in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • María Lisseth Morales Aliaga

    (Department of Health Services Research, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan)

  • Tomoko Ito

    (Health Services Research & Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
    Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan)

  • Takehiro Sugiyama

    (Health Services Research & Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
    Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
    Diabetes and Metabolism Information Center, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
    Institute for Global Health Policy Research, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan)

  • Timothy Bolt

    (Health Services Research & Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
    Department of Economics, Saitama University, Saitama 338-8570, Japan)

  • Nanako Tamiya

    (Health Services Research & Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
    Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan)

Abstract

We aimed to describe the characteristics of caregivers with cancer compared to those without and analyze the association between having cancer and caregivers’ psychological distress in Japan. We used data from the Japanese Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in 2010, 2013, and 2016. The participants were 5258 family caregivers aged ≥40 years, caring for only one family member whose information in the dataset was available for all the covariates included in the model. The family caregivers’ psychological distress was defined by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score (K6 ≥ 5). We conducted a Poisson regression analysis to examine the association between having cancer and family caregivers’ distress. The sample of family caregivers consisted of mostly females (69.3%) and people within the 40–64 years age group (51.8%). As a result, family caregivers with cancer increased across the survey periods; a higher number of participants were unemployed. When adjusted for covariates, including the presence of other diseases, having cancer was significantly associated with distress (risk ratio 1.33, 95% confidence interval 1.05–1.69) among family caregivers. Family caregivers with cancer are expected to increase in the future; it is important to provide them with more support in managing both their treatment and caregiving to cope with their distress.

Suggested Citation

  • María Lisseth Morales Aliaga & Tomoko Ito & Takehiro Sugiyama & Timothy Bolt & Nanako Tamiya, 2021. "Association between Having Cancer and Psychological Distress among Family Caregivers Using Three Years of a Nationwide Survey Data in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10479-:d:650429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10479/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10479/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tami Saito & Naoki Kondo & Koichiro Shiba & Chiyoe Murata & Katsunori Kondo, 2018. "Income-based inequalities in caregiving time and depressive symptoms among older family caregivers under the Japanese long-term care insurance system: A cross-sectional analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Jennifer R. Piazza & Susan T. Charles & David M. Almeida, 2007. "Living With Chronic Health Conditions: Age Differences in Affective Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(6), pages 313-321.
    3. Martin Pinquart & Silvia Sörensen, 2007. "Correlates of Physical Health of Informal Caregivers: A Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(2), pages 126-137.
    4. Tokunaga, Mutsumi & Hashimoto, Hideki & Tamiya, Nanako, 2015. "A gap in formal long-term care use related to characteristics of caregivers and households, under the public universal system in Japan: 2001–2010," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(6), pages 840-849.
    5. Navaie-Waliser, M. & Feldman, P.H. & Gould, D.A. & Levine, C. & Kuerbis, A.N. & Donelan, K., 2002. "When the caregiver needs care: The plight of vulnerable caregivers," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(3), pages 409-413.
    6. Narimasa Kumagai, 2017. "Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Le, Duc Dung & Ibuka, Yoko, 2023. "Understanding the effects of informal caregiving on health and well-being: Heterogeneity and mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    2. Cinzia Di Novi & Rowena Jacobs & Matteo Migheli, 2013. "The quality of life of female informal caregivers: from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea," Working Papers 084cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    3. M Khurram Malik & KS Jacob, 2015. "Psychological morbidity among co-residents of older people in rural South India: Prevalence and risk factors," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(2), pages 183-187, March.
    4. Plaisier, Inger & Verbeek-Oudijk, Debbie & de Klerk, Mirjam, 2017. "Developments in home-care use. Policy and changing community-based care use by independent community-dwelling adults in the Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 82-89.
    5. Thin Nyein Nyein Aung & Myo Nyein Aung & Saiyud Moolphate & Yuka Koyanagi & Siripen Supakankunti & Motoyuki Yuasa, 2021. "Caregiver Burden and Associated Factors for the Respite Care Needs among the Family Caregivers of Community Dwelling Senior Citizens in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Borja Rivero Jiménez & David Conde-Caballero & Lorenzo Mariano Juárez, 2022. "Technological Utopias: Loneliness and Rural Contexts in Western Iberia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Eve Wittenberg & Adrianna Saada & Lisa Prosser, 2013. "How Illness Affects Family Members: A Qualitative Interview Survey," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 6(4), pages 257-268, December.
    8. Laia Calvó-Perxas & Joan Vilalta-Franch & Howard Litwin & Oriol Turró-Garriga & Pedro Mira & Josep Garre-Olmo, 2018. "What seems to matter in public policy and the health of informal caregivers? A cross-sectional study in 12 European countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, March.
    9. Lara Lopez & Fernando L. Vázquez & Ángela J. Torres & Patricia Otero & Vanessa Blanco & Olga Díaz & Mario Páramo, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Conference Call Intervention on Depression in Non-Professional Caregivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-24, November.
    10. Marie Blaise & Laetitia Dillenseger, 2023. "Informal Caregivers and Life Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 1883-1930, August.
    11. Cristina Dumitrache & Gill Windle & Ramona Rubio Herrera, 2015. "Do Social Resources Explain the Relationship Between Optimism and Life Satisfaction in Community-Dwelling Older People? Testing a Multiple Mediation Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 633-654, June.
    12. Carmen K.M. Ng & Dara K.Y. Leung & Xinxin Cai & Gloria H.Y. Wong, 2021. "Perceived Help-Seeking Difficulty, Barriers, Delay, and Burden in Carers of People with Suspected Dementia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-11, March.
    13. Yuval Palgi, 2013. "Ongoing Cumulative Chronic Stressors as Predictors of Well-Being in the Second Half of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1127-1144, August.
    14. Young Kyung Do & Edward C. Norton & Sally C. Stearns & Courtney Harold Van Houtven, 2015. "Informal Care and Caregiver's Health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 224-237, February.
    15. Miller, Ray & Sedai, Ashish Kumar, 2022. "Opportunity costs of unpaid caregiving: Evidence from panel time diaries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    16. Ignacio Gimeno & Sonia Val & María Jesús Cardoso Moreno, 2021. "Relation among Caregivers’ Burden, Abuse and Behavioural Disorder in People with Dementia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, January.
    17. Sor Tho Ng & Nai Peng Tey & M Niaz Asadullah, 2017. "What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2023. "Caregiving subsidies and spousal early retirement intentions," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 550-589, October.
    19. Afeez Abiola Hazzan & Pamela Beach & Lauren J. Lieberman & Cassidy Regan, 2023. "Home-Based Pilot Intervention to Improve Quality of Life and Related Outcomes among Unpaid Caregivers and Their Care-Recipients with Visual Impairments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, February.
    20. Wilfried Guets, 2021. "Does the formal home care provided to old-adults persons affect utilisation of support services by informal carers? An analysis of the French CARE and the U.S. NHATS/NSOC surveys," Working Papers 2105, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10479-:d:650429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.