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Caregivers' descriptions of sleep changes and depressive symptoms
1School of Nursing, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. pcarter@mail.nur.utexas.edu
Purpose/Objectives:
To describe caregiver sleep and depression using caregiver narratives. To compare qualitative descriptions with quantitative scores.
Design:
Descriptive, one-time, open-ended interview followed by structured sleep and depression questions.
Setting:
Interview conducted in person or via telephone at caregiver's preference.
Sample:
47 caregivers of patients with advanced stage cancer. Caregivers had a mean age of 54 years, and most were female (81%), Caucasian (82%), and spouses (61%). They provided care for a mean of 24 months. Patients' diagnoses were lung cancer (36%), colorectal cancer (13%), or recurrences (51%).
Methods:
Two cancer care sites in southern California provided participants. After consent, the researcher conducted interviews. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) instruments were administered following interviews.
Main Research Variables:
Sleep pattern changes and depression levels over time as defined by caregivers.
Findings:
Caregivers described severe fluctuations in sleep patterns over time and how these changes affected caregiver depressive symptoms. PSQI and CES-D scores matched narrative comments.
Conclusions:
Caregivers' narratives suggest they suffer progressive sleep deprivation that affects their emotions and ability to continue as caregivers.
Implications For Nursing:
Nurses must recognize the severe sleep problems experienced by caregivers and respond with interventions to increase sleep quality and decrease depression.