Burnout among cancer patients and caregivers and their styles of coping with stress

Introduction and Aim of Study: Burnout syndrome, which has an impact on individuals‟ professional lives, has drawn attention in recent years as the focus of various research studies. Caregivers who provide care for patients with chronic illness constitute an important group of participants on which the research has been conducted so far. It is believed that chronic stress can lead to burnout, and thus it can be inferred that there is a relationship between individuals‟ burnout and their styles of coping with stress. In this study, it is aimed to examine not only the factors that affect caregiver burnout but also the styles of both patients who receive treatment at Adnan Menderes University Research and Training Hospital and their caregivers regarding coping with stress. Material and Methods: 240 caregivers and also 240 patients who received treatment in the Oncology Clinic and Outpatients Chemotheraphy Unit at Adnan Menderes University Research and Training Hospital between 01.02.2016-31.05.2016 attended the study which was designed as cross-sectional analytical research. The questionnaire used in the study consisted of two parts for the patients and three parts for the caregivers. The first parts of the questionnaires covered socio-demographic characteristics of the participants and questions investigating various factors that may be related to burnout. Moreover, The Stress Coping Style Inventory (SCSI) that evaluates individuals‟ styles of coping with stress was used in the second part of the questionnaires. In the third part, administered only to the caregivers, Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that aims to evaluate the state of burnout that individuals experience was used. The part of the questionnaires related to socio-demographic characteristics of the participants was conducted by the researcher as a face-to-face survey. However, both the patients and caregivers were asked to answer the rest of the questionnaires by themselves. The data gathered from the participants was analysed through a program for statistical analysis, SPSS 17.0. Results: The results showed that female caregivers who attended the present study were more emotionally and socially exhausted compared to male caregivers. It was also found that the caregivers‟ levels of burnout increased as the patients‟ disease progressed. Furthermore, as the length of time a patient receive care increased, individuals experienced more desensitisation. Socio-demographic characteristics such as the caregivers‟ income status, habits of smoking and drinking alcohol, prior experience of caregiving, the presence of other family members in need of nursing at home either have very limited or no impact at all on burnout. It was found that the caregivers who were employed experienced less burnout. Also, factors such as the fact that caregivers also have a chronic illness and that they live in the same house with the patient, the caregivers‟ educational background, marital status, relationship with the patient and lack of other individuals who might provide care for the patient take effect on burnout. The results demonstrated that both the patients and the caregivers used strategies that are believed to be effective more than ineffective ones. Female caregivers used helpless approach, which is one of the ineffective strategies, more than male caregivers. It was revealed that the individuals who used effective strategies to cope with stress experienced less burnout compared to others. It was also found out that the ones who used ineffective strategies experienced more burnout. Conclusion: In the present study, it was revealed that the caregivers‟ socio-demographic characterisitics and their styles of coping with stress have an influence on burnout. Therefore, it is believed that both training and intervention programs regarding risk factors and also aiming to make individuals adopt effective styles to cope with stress will be useful not only to take into consideration but also to prevent burnout.