THURSDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- For couples coping with
cancer, the physical health of the husband -- as either patient or
caregiver -- appears particularly influenced by the wife's frame of
mind, new research suggests.
The finding suggests that a husband is particularly sensitive to
fluctuations in his wife's experience of psychological distress
more so than she is to his.
The research was presented recently by Youngmee Kim, director of
the American Cancer Society's Family Studies Research, during the
launch of an ACS "Hope Lodge" in New York City -- part of the
society's nationwide network of free temporary housing for cancer
patients undergoing treatment.
Kim said the finding, which is scheduled for publication in an
upcoming issue of
Annals of Behavioral Medicine, evolved from the premise that
"cancer care-giving is equally distressing to the cancer caregiver
as it is to the patient."
And, she stressed, "the issue has a great impact on society,"
given that nearly 11 million cancer survivors are currently living
in the United States --a figure likely to rise as the population
ages.
To gauge the nuances of this impact, Kim conducted a survey of
the quality of life and psychological distress experienced by 168
married patient-caregiver pairs -- half coping with breast cancer,
half coping with prostate cancer.
Most of the participants were white, middle-aged, relatively
affluent and well-educated. Most were interviewed by mail
approximately two years following the initial cancer diagnosis.
Kim found that although all the caregivers and patients appeared
to both affect and be affected by each other's state of mind,
gender drove some differences in the pair's dynamic -- with men
generally more vulnerable.
The greater the psychological distress among wives suffering
from breast cancer, the poorer the physical health of their
caretaking husbands -- regardless of the husband's own quality of
life. And the greater the psychological distress among wives
attending to the needs of their husbands coping with prostate
cancer, the poorer the physical health of the male patient.
Kim suggested that the greater sensitivity observed among men
could be a function not just of typical gender roles but also of
related communication patterns.
"Females go out with friends and talk about their problems," she
said. "But often a man's best friend is his wife, and if the wife
is not emotionally available, then the man tends to physicalize the
stress."
"But whether male or female, managing stress is very important
for caregivers," Kim added. "Psycho-social support -- maybe through
meeting with a local group of caregivers -- is a great resource for
that. And it's also important to try to make sure there is always
some open communication between the couple."
Julia Rowland, director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute's
Office of Cancer Survivorship, said the study carries an important
public health message.
"We need to recognize how important caregivers are," she said.
"Because social support is an important buffer for all sorts of
outcomes -- not only for affording patients a better quality of
life, but also to help them live longer.
"But when these relationships are stressed and go wrong, the
opposite can occur," Rowland cautioned. "So we recognize that a
survivor is not just the individual with the disease but also the
caregiver. There is mutuality about the experience."
She added, "And as the population ages, this is going to be a
growing concern for more and more of us who will carry a history of
cancer. So it's very important that caregivers get the help they
need, if they're going to be responsible for playing an important
role in helping patients."
More information
To learn more about cancer and caregivers, visit the
American Cancer Society.
