Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress
ObjectivesThis study aims at determining the caregiving burden and the coping strategies adopted by informal caregivers of patients with cancer in tertiary health facilities in Enugu state.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 105 informal caregivers of cancer patients in tertiary healt...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607735/full |
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| author | Nnabuike Celestine Eze Chukwudi Gift Ezeugwu Rachael Nwanezeobi Eze Clara Ngozi Soronnadi Chinonyelu Jennie Orji Onyinye Hope Chime |
| author_facet | Nnabuike Celestine Eze Chukwudi Gift Ezeugwu Rachael Nwanezeobi Eze Clara Ngozi Soronnadi Chinonyelu Jennie Orji Onyinye Hope Chime |
| author_sort | Nnabuike Celestine Eze |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectivesThis study aims at determining the caregiving burden and the coping strategies adopted by informal caregivers of patients with cancer in tertiary health facilities in Enugu state.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 105 informal caregivers of cancer patients in tertiary health facilities in Enugu State using interviewer-administered questionnaires over 6 weeks. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 27 and Chi square test of statistical significance was used to determine factors associated with caregiving burden and coping strategies.ResultsThe majority (27.6%) of caregivers were aged 41–50 years and females (62.9%). More than half (56.2) were not involved in the patients’ Activities of Daily Living (ADL). The most commonly utilized coping mechanisms was religion (92.4%) while behavioral disengagement (1%) and self-blame (1%) were the least utilized. Factors associated with caregiving burden include educational level, duration of patient’s illness and dependency of patient on caregiver.ConclusionThis study highlights the varying levels of caregiving burden and the predominant reliance on religious and acceptance-based coping strategies among informal caregivers in Enugu. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0f05d94566954d379a31fd119d3b44fd |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1661-8564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-0f05d94566954d379a31fd119d3b44fd2025-08-20T03:08:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.International Journal of Public Health1661-85642025-04-017010.3389/ijph.2025.16077351607735Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to DistressNnabuike Celestine Eze0Chukwudi Gift Ezeugwu1Rachael Nwanezeobi Eze2Clara Ngozi Soronnadi3Chinonyelu Jennie Orji4Onyinye Hope Chime5Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaDepartment of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaDepartment of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaDepartment of Human Physiology, College of Medicine, Enugu State Univerisity of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaDepartment of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaDepartment of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, NigeriaObjectivesThis study aims at determining the caregiving burden and the coping strategies adopted by informal caregivers of patients with cancer in tertiary health facilities in Enugu state.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 105 informal caregivers of cancer patients in tertiary health facilities in Enugu State using interviewer-administered questionnaires over 6 weeks. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 27 and Chi square test of statistical significance was used to determine factors associated with caregiving burden and coping strategies.ResultsThe majority (27.6%) of caregivers were aged 41–50 years and females (62.9%). More than half (56.2) were not involved in the patients’ Activities of Daily Living (ADL). The most commonly utilized coping mechanisms was religion (92.4%) while behavioral disengagement (1%) and self-blame (1%) were the least utilized. Factors associated with caregiving burden include educational level, duration of patient’s illness and dependency of patient on caregiver.ConclusionThis study highlights the varying levels of caregiving burden and the predominant reliance on religious and acceptance-based coping strategies among informal caregivers in Enugu.https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607735/fullcancer caregiving burdencoping strategiescancer patientsinformal cancer caregiversEnugu Nigeria |
| spellingShingle | Nnabuike Celestine Eze Chukwudi Gift Ezeugwu Rachael Nwanezeobi Eze Clara Ngozi Soronnadi Chinonyelu Jennie Orji Onyinye Hope Chime Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress International Journal of Public Health cancer caregiving burden coping strategies cancer patients informal cancer caregivers Enugu Nigeria |
| title | Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress |
| title_full | Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress |
| title_fullStr | Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress |
| title_short | Caregiving Burden and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Nigeria: From Duty to Distress |
| title_sort | caregiving burden and coping strategies among informal caregivers of cancer patients in nigeria from duty to distress |
| topic | cancer caregiving burden coping strategies cancer patients informal cancer caregivers Enugu Nigeria |
| url | https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607735/full |
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