Archives of Hellenic Medicine

Last update:

01-Aug-2025

Arch Hellen Med, 42(5), September-October 2025, 642-651

ORIGINAL PAPER

Correlation of anxiety and depression with quality of life in caregivers of elderly patients with advanced cancer

Μ. Βοuri,^1,2 Α. Κatsarou,¹ Α. Βarbouni,^1,2 Α. Lagiou,^1,2 Ε. Sakellari^1,2
¹Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens,
²Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece

ΟΒJECTIVE To investigate the levels of anxiety and depression in caregivers of elderly persons with advanced cancer, their association with quality of life, and various socio-demographic factors.

METHOD A cross-sectional study with a sample of 55 caregivers of elderly patients with advanced cancer was conducted between April to May 2022. The research tools were the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Greek version of the WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and a socio-demographics questionnaire. For data analysis the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS IBM), version 22.0 was used.

RESULTS The majority of the participants were women (60%), average sample age was 40−49 years (37.4%), and most of them were children of the sick persons (57.4%). Percentage of 14.5% of participants showed mild depressive symptoms and 9.1% severe depression. Increased levels of anxiety (mean value >40, which is the limit for clinical anxiety) were also detected; in specific, the median value for State Anxiety of Spielberger Inventory was 47.5 (standard deviation [SD]=12.5) and for Trait Anxiety 44.9 (SD=12.6). The overall quality of life and health scoring in WHOQOL-BREF ranged between 6−20 with median value 14 (SD=3.5). All WHOQOL-BREF sections ("physical health", "mental health", "social relations", "environment") showed negative, statistical significant correlation with scorings at Beck Depression Inventory, State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety and daily care-giving time (p<0.05). A number of socio-demographic and care-related factors influenced participants' levels of anxiety, depression and quality of life scores.

CONCLUSIONS The results showed that caregivers for elderly people with advanced cancer face increased risk of developing anxiety and depression, negatively affecting their quality of life. This fact highlights the importance of appropriate prevention and health promotion interventions for this population aiming to empower them in facing the challenges of caring for a seriously ill patient and avoiding the adverse impacts on their quality of life.

Key words: Anxiety, Caregivers, Depression, Elderly cancer patients, Quality of life.