To the Editor:
In their recent study, Siminoff et al.1 found an association between subjective and objective burdens, both within and between caregivers of cancer patients. Here, we present points pertaining to this study for further discussion.
The authors indicated that there were between-person differences in the initial levels and rates of change over time in subjective burden1. They also identified a significant correlation between the Zarit Burden Inventory2 as a subjective measure of caregiver burden and objective measures, including activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), high-intensity work, and time spent on ADLs, for caregivers providing end-of-life care.1 Many studies have been conducted on caregiver burden in dementia care. A previous study reported that a greater decline in patient function in ADL over 18 months was associated with increased subjective caregiver burden, hours, and costs over 36 months.3 Another study of caregiver burden among those caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease utilized multivariate analysis to demonstrate that decreased ability in feeding and bathing was significantly associated with increased caregiver burden.4 We believe that differences in ADL are important because of disease characteristics. It would be beneficial if the authors could discuss the differences between the results of their study and the temporal changes observed in caregiving burdens for other diseases. This discussion would offer deeper insights into the longitudinal aspects of cancer-specific caregiving burdens.
Siminoff et al.1 reported useful data on cancer caregiving burden trajectories over time.5 We believe that understanding both the subjective and objective aspects of caregiver burden will benefit caregivers in the long term.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.
Contributor Information
Kohei Kajiwara, Faculty of Nursing, Shimonoseki City University, Shimonoseki 751-8510, Japan.
Jun Kako, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Tsu 514-8507, Japan.
Masamitsu Kobayashi, Faculty of Nursing, Toho University, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan.
Yoshiyasu Ito, Faculty of Nursing Science, Tsuruga Nursing University, Tsuruga 914-0814, Japan.
Michihiro Tsubaki, School of Nursing, Kitasato University, Sagamihara 252-0373, Japan.
Makoto Yamanaka, School of Nursing, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute 480-1195, Japan.
Hideaki Sakuramoto, Division of Faculty Development, Nursing, Kindai University, Osakasayama city 589-8511, Japan.
Takahiro Kakeda, Faculty of Nursing, Kawasaki City College of Nursing, Kawasaki 212-0054, Japan.
Author contributions
Kajiwara Kohei PhD, RN (Conceptualization, Writing – original draft), Kako Jun PhD, RN (Conceptualization), Kobayashi Masamitsu PhD, RN (Conceptualization), Ito Yoshiyasu MA, RN (Conceptualization), Tsubaki Michihiro PhD, RN (Conceptualization), Yamanaka Makoto PhD, RN (Conceptualization), Sakuramoto Hideaki PhD, RN (Conceptualization) and Kakeda Takahiro PhD, RN (Conceptualization)
Funding
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest. This study was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI [grant number: JP21K11073]. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.
Conflicts of interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Data availability
All relevant data have been included in this article.
Ethics approval statement
This project was not part of any research, either in part or in full. Therefore, ethics committee approval was not required.
References
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Associated Data
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Data Availability Statement
All relevant data have been included in this article.