Caregiver’s Burden and Its Associated Effect among Parents of Children Suffering from Cancer in Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

Childhood cancers affect caregivers in various ways; physically, socially, psychologically and economically which lead to caregiver burden. Caregivers of children with cancer suffer significant stress, loneliness, job loss, and family conflict during the time of care. Approximately 1110 children aged between 0 and 12 years are diagnosed with cancer in Kenyatta National Hospital annually. There is a great need to know how the caregivers of these children are affected. Study objective: Determining the burden on caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer and its associated effects at Kenyatta National Hospital. Methodology: A hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study. 74 caregivers were recruited using Fischer’s formula. Data were obtained using the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview scale and a researcher administered a questionnaire. Data were cleaned, entered and analyzed using SPSS computer package, version 21. Data was presented in textual, tables and pie-charts. Results: On average, the caregivers reported moderate to severe (58.6+/- 11.2 SD) caregiver burden with majority 73% (n= 54) being females of middle age 30-39 years. More than half 57% (42) having severe caregiver burden. The majority of the respondents had a low economic status with 95% (70) reporting strain in finances as they cared for their children. Psychologically insertion of intravenous cannulas influenced caregiver burden with a P-value of 0.028. Conclusion: The degree of caregiver burden as measured by the ZBI Scale was moderate to severe in the majority of the respondents with an average score of 58.6 which is way too high than the normal 0-20.