Singapore Medical Assn

INTRODUCTION We aimed to examine the relative importance of medical and psychosocial needs of Asian breast cancer patients and their caregivers, and to identify the determinants of quality of life (QoL) at the time of diagnosis. METHODS This is a prospective observational study of the perceived needs and QoL of 99 dyads of breast cancer patients and their caregivers at diagnosis. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure the perceived importance of medical and psychosocial support needs. Short Form-36 health survey (SF-36) version 2 was used to measure QoL.

Introduction: Cancer is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment and care. Caregivers of cancer patients are at greater risk of developing depression than the general population. The effect of caregivers' cognitive flexibility on depression and anxiety has not been studied. We aimed to investigate the social characteristics, burden level and cognitive flexibility of caregivers of advanced cancer patients, and determine the relationship between these factors and depression and anxiety.