A Comparative Study of Stress and Coping among Caregivers of Cancer Patients and Alcohol Dependence

Abstract

The incidence and prevalence of cancer has been increasing in developing countries in the last few decades. Cancer is viewed increasingly as a chronic disease, with prolonged management and increased rates of survival, leading to long term care requirements of the patient. The act of caring for a sick patient is multifaceted. The caregiver needs to have dedicated time to take the patient for hospital appointments and care for disease and treatment related problems at home as well. Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are a significant risk factor for a range of adverse health outcomes, reducing the lifespan of those who drink by more than a decade. Dependent drinking is the most severe form of AUD, often characterized by increased tolerance to alcohol, impaired control over drinking, persistent drinking despite harmful consequences and physical withdrawal upon discontinuation. In India, the prevalence of dependent drinking among males aged 15 and over is estimated at 7%, a significantly higher prevalence than the average for the World Health Organization South East Asia Region (2.9%). Coping with such problems needs a lot of patience. Caregivers must give up their personal time to care for their family members. The aim is to study the stress and coping between caregivers of cancer patients and alcohol dependents. The sample consisted of 60 caregivers 30 each of cancer patients and alcohol dependents. The caregivers were residents of Bangalore City. With the consent of the caregivers, they were administered caregivers strain index and brief cope. A purposive sampling design was opted for the study. The mean, SD, and ‘t’ was computed using appropriate statistical measures. The result revealed that there was significant difference in stress and coping between the caregivers.