Quality of life in family caregivers of women receiving cancer treatment and its influencing factors

Aim: This study was conducted to assess quality of life of caregivers of women receiving cancer treatment and the factors affecting. Method: This descriptive stuyd was aimed to assess quality of life of caregivers of women receiving cancer treatment and the factors affecting quality of life. The study population consisted of caregivers of female patients receiving cancer treatment in Koç University Hospital Medical Oncology Inpatient Service. 128 women who meet the inclusion criteria and agreed voluntarily to participate in the study. The "Caregiver Identification Form" containing the sociodemographic characteristics of the caregivers, the "Patient Identification Form" containing the characteristics of the patient's disease, and the "Quality of Life Scale-Family Version" were used to collect data. Data was analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis and One-Way Anova tests. Results: The mean score of quality of life scale of participations was 4.41±0.63. (Max= 6.03, Min=2.77). It has been determined that female caregivers, caregivers of patient with metastasis and caregiver who gave care for 19-24 hours per a day have lower quality of life score. Conclusions: As a result of the study, it was determined that the quality of life of caregivers of female cancer patients were low. It is recommended that services should be provided specifically for those who are female caregivers, and give care to the patients with metastasis, give care for an average of 24 hours a day or longer. Key words: quality of life, care giver, cancer, caregiving, female