The Depression Situation of Cancer Patients’ Relatives in Turkey

Vedat Isikhan

Department of Social Work, Hacettepe University, Turkey

^*Correspondance to: Vedat Isikhan 

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Abstract:

Purpose: Cancer is a serious illness which lasts from diagnosis until death. The emotional reactions of the relatives of the patient on the illness and their psycho-social difficulties may negatively affect both the treatment of the illness and the relatives’ quality of life. It is also important for the relatives to know that the patient receives care of a good quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of depression levels and the psycho-social factors that affect depression levels of the relatives of the cancer patients.Patients and
Methods: We enrolled 984 relatives of cancer patients from Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Training and Research Hospital and Ahmet Andicen Cancer Hospital in Ankara under the Turkish Ministry of Health, between 11 June-11 December in Turkey. In this study, we obtained socio-demographic and some characteristics of both patients and relatives. For the assessment of the psycho-social problems and depression of the relatives, we used the Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). For statistical analysis of the data t-test and variance analysis (F) were used.Results: According to BDI scale, relatives had avarage (X: 38,47) depression scores. Data collection tools were administered on 984 relatives of in-patients and statistically significant relationships were found between the following characteristics and depression scores: occupational and income status, closeness to the patient, and need for professional support of the relatives (p<0.05).Conclusion: Cancer is still a great source of fear and it is evident that offering psycho-social support at a professional level in addition to medical treatment will yield more favorable results for both patients and their relatives. Depression was highly prevalent among the relatives in Turkey. All social work interventions aiming at reducing the psychiatric effects of cancer should focus not only on the patient but also on the relatives.

Keywords:

Cancer; depression; psycho-social support; relatives; oncology social work; social workers’ interventions

Cite the Article:

Isikhan V. The Depression Situation of Cancer Patients’ Relatives in Turkey. Clin Oncol. 2018; 3: 1399.