Comments on “The psycho-social impact of cancer treatment on the caregivers of the patients”

Cancer is a global issue today. It is a group of diseases involving uncontrolled cell growth. It causes physiological, psychological, social, and financial issues, both for the patient and their caregivers. A cross-sectional study of over 150 patients by the authors from May to July in a south Indian metropolitan city provided an excellent understanding of psycho-social impact, demonstrating burden category, financial/physical/dependency strain, uncertainty, and self criticism in caregivers. Half of them were children, and one-third were spouses. A majority were employed, and one-third were unemployed. Of all caregivers, 64% had a monthly income of Indian Rupee 10,000 to 20,000. The majority of caregivers (46.7%) faced moderate to severe burden and 26.7% faced severe burden.

However, I would like to bring attention to some additional perspective. The insights on the total number of family members, depression in care-givers after diagnosis, illness, anxiety disorders, multiple checkups of themselves and others, self-blame, coping methods and their effectiveness, fear of losing their beloved one, worry over their family getting neglected, and language barrier with doctors, could appreciate more research.

An article by City of Hope^[1] stated, “The analysis found that cancer patients’ spouses were 14 percent more likely to seek treatment for psychological disorders than spouses of people without cancer”. A study by Edwards et al.^[2] revealed that families that were able to act openly, express feelings directly, and solve problems effectively had lower levels of depression. According to Beth Mckeague et al.,^[3] getting medical check-ups was the main behavioral change that occurred as a result of becoming more conscious (n = 7). Medical preventative behaviors referred to by participants included actively increased self-examination and seeking out and engaging in cancer screenings. A research by Sun Min Lim^[4] showed that significantly higher levels of stress, history of depression, and current depressive symptoms were observed in family members of cancer patients than in control subjects. A study by Pitcealthy et al. stated^[5] that carers are also more at risk when they lack a support network of their own and when there are relationship difficulties with the patient.

I hope these additional points are researched more. Thank You for your consideration.