Impact of caregiver burden on mental health in bereaved caregivers of cancer patients: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: Although caregiver burden may continue to influence the mental health of cancer patients' caregivers long after bereavement, few studies have examined this issue.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to provide a summary of (1) operationalizations of caregiver burden used in this field and (2) the effect of caregiver burden on postbereavement mental health of adult caregivers of cancer patients. A systematic search of the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO was conducted across empirical studies published in a peer-reviewed journal up until April 2017.

Results: Caregiver burden was rarely defined, and it was operationalized in multiple and diverging ways. The 20 included papers present varying results but generally indicate that caregiver burden (especially emotional) has an adverse effect on postbereavement mental health.

Conclusions: In future studies, researchers seeking to ascertain which aspects of caregiver burden may prove an appropriate target for prevention and intervention should first use a precise operational definition of the concept.

Keywords: bereavement; cancer; caregiver burden; depression; oncology; review.