Supportive care needs and quality of life in caregivers of cancer patients receiving home-based palliative care: a serial mediation model

Background

Family caregivers of cancer patients receiving home-based palliative care often experience growing responsibilities. Nonetheless, research remains scarce on the extent to which patients’ clinical status is associated with caregivers’ unmet needs and quality of life, particularly in terms of the interaction between patients and caregivers.

Objective

This study aimed to examine the relationships of cancer patients’ unmet supportive care needs and symptom burden with caregivers’ quality of life and their own unmet supportive care needs through a multiple mediation model.

Methods

This cross-sectional study comprised 124 cancer patients and 124 caregivers registered with a home-based palliative care unit. To explore the mediating roles of patients’ unmet care needs and symptom burden, serial mediation analysis was performed using the PROCESS Macro (Model 6).

Results

Caregivers reported considerable supportive care needs (mean = 2.94, SD = 0.80) and a moderate level of quality of life (mean = 70.72, SD = 19.02). A significant serial mediation pathway emerged, indicating that patients’ unmet needs and symptom burden jointly mediated the relationship between caregivers’ quality of life and supportive care needs (Total indirect effect = − 0.01; 95% CI: − 0.02 to − 0.01).

Conclusions

The findings suggest that the challenges experienced by patients and caregivers during the care process may reflect mutual interaction within an interdependent care system in home-based palliative care.