Mental Stress Symptoms in Family Caregivers of Palliative Patients

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Receiving a life-limiting diagnosis is often a shock for those affected as well as for their relatives, which changes the entire life situation of the family. New perspectives often arise, as well as feelings of worry, sadness and powerlessness. Caregiving is often an extreme physical challenge, but above all a psychological one. Aims of the study To investigate whether family caregivers of palliative patients with severe trait anxiety in the care situation also suffer from severe state anxiety. To investigate whether family caregivers of palliative patients with increased stress levels and burnout-promoting work-related behaviour suffer more from burnout symptoms, health-related anxiety and psychosomatic complaints. To investigate the impact of nursing support by a mobile palliative team on family caregivers of palliative patients.

Official Title
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Mental Stress Symptoms in Family Caregivers of Palliative Patients

Conditions
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Family Caregivers, Palliative Patients

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: psychometric questionnaires


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion criteria: Women and men between 18 and 90 years of age Current palliative care situation of a relative with a life-limiting diagnosis. Exclusion criteria: Persons incapable of giving consent (e.g. dementia, delirium, etc.) Failure to meet the inclusion criteria

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 90 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| family caregivers of palliative patients<br>psychometric questionnaires | Other: psychometric questionnaires<br>* Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10); Trier-Inventory on Chronic Stress; State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); AVEM-Work-related behaviour and experience pattern; Maslach Burn-out Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI - HSS) health-related anxiety: Whiteley Index (WI)<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| burn-out syndrome, Outcome is the difference between measurement 1 (Baseline) and measurement 2 (Follow-up) | Maslach Burn-out Inventory (MBI), The MBI does not provide a single score but a profile. | 2 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| health-related anxiety, Outcome is the difference between measurement 1 (Baseline) and measurement 2 (Follow-up) | Whiteley Index/Illness Attitude Scale (WI-IAS). Whitely-Index: The Whitely-Index is formed by the sum of the points for each answer - the higher the score, the more likely one is to be hypochondriacal. IAS: The total score ranges from 0 to108. | 2 months | 
| State/Trait anxiety, Outcome is the difference between measurement 1 (Baseline) and measurement 2 (Follow-up) | State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores correlating with greater anxiety. | 2 months | 
| Work-related behaviour and experience pattern, Outcome is the difference between measurement 1 (Baseline) and measurement 2. | Work-related behaviour and experience pattern (AVEM), The AVEM questionnaire does not provide a single score but a profile. | 2 months |