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Anxiety among informal hospice caregivers: An exploratory study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2014

Karla T. Washington ,
George Demiris ,
Kenneth C. Pike ,
Robin L. Kruse  and
Debra Parker Oliver
Karla T. Washington*
Affiliation:
Curtis W. & Ann H. Long Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
George Demiris
Affiliation:
Department of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Services, School of Nursing and Department of Biomedical & Health Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Kenneth C. Pike
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosocial Nursing & Community Health, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Robin L. Kruse
Affiliation:
Curtis W. & Ann H. Long Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Debra Parker Oliver
Affiliation:
Curtis W. & Ann H. Long Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karla T. Washington, Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Missouri, MA306 Medical Sciences Building, DC032.00, Columbia, Missouri 65212. E-mail: washingtonkar@health.missouri.edu.
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Abstract

Objective:

This study examined the prevalence of clinically significant anxiety among informal hospice caregivers and identified the characteristics of caregivers who experienced anxiety of this severity.

Method:

An exploratory secondary data analysis pooled from three separate studies of informal hospice caregivers (N = 433) was conducted. Researchers employed descriptive statistics to calculate anxiety prevalence and utilized logistic regression to model the associations between the covariates (i.e., caregiver characteristics) and anxiety.

Results:

Overall, 31% of informal hospice caregivers reported moderate or higher levels of anxiety. Caregivers associated with the research site in the Northwest were less likely to be anxious than those in the Southeast [χ2(3, N = 433) = 7.07, p = 0.029], and employed caregivers were less likely to be anxious than unemployed caregivers (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.33, 0.96). The likelihood of being anxious decreased with increasing physical quality of life (OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.69, 0.85), and younger female caregivers were more likely to be anxious than male caregivers and older females (OR = 0.95, CI = 0.91, 0.99).

Significance of Results:

A noteworthy number of informal hospice caregivers experience clinically significant levels of anxiety. Increased efforts to screen and address anxiety in this population are recommended.

Keywords

AnxietyHospice careCaregiversFamily
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 567 - 573
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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