A descriptive study to assess the psychosocial distress among caregivers of prospective bone marrow transplant patients in a selected tertiary hospital of Delhi

Abstract

Cancer is a condition where the body’s cells begin to grow and reproduce in an uncontrollable way. The three main causes of death due to cancer are cancer of Lung, Stomach and Liver. The distress of caregiver is a major phenomenon faced by prospective care givers of young bone marrow transplant recipients. The care giver experiences an unpleasant emotional experience of psychological, social or physiological nature which affects the ability of care giver towards its treatments. Objective To assess the level of psychosocial distress among various demographic variables. To evaluate the relationship between psychosocial distress with demographic variables in the care giver of the prospective BMT patients. Material and Method an evaluator approach was used to assess the level of stress among the caregivers of children undergoing BMT in a selected tertiary hospital of Delhi. Demographic data was collected through a semi –structured tool. The level of stress was assessed using Distress Thermometer. Analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics Results and Discussions In the present study out of 30 samples 80% had moderate stress and 20% had severe stress. Mean distress score of the sample was that there exist statistically significant association between psychosocial distress and selected demographic variables. The distress level of Males was higher as compared to Females .The personality characteristics of the caregiver are related to social support. The present study corresponds with the study conducted  by PC Trask et al  that Psychosocial distress is associated with a numbers of negative outcomes during BMT and half patient at the time of initial consultation for BMT already experience significant levels of psychological distress