Complicated grief in caregivers of patients in a palliative care unit

To identify predictive factors of complicated grief in caregivers of patients in palliative care at 2, 6, and 13 months post-death.

This longitudinal-prospective study assessed primary caregivers of palliative care patients before death (N = 129). The Complicated Grief Inventory (CGI) was administered at 2 months (N = 119), 6 months (N = 98), and 13 months (N = 94) post-death.

Complicated grief symptoms decreased significantly across the three time points (η² = 0.54). A strong correlation was observed between complicated grief scores at 6 and 13 months (r = 0.64). Predictors of complicated grief at 2 months included patient age, caregiver depression, and cohabitation (R² Cox and Snell = 0.542); at 6 months, predictors were patient age, caregiver depression, and number of support persons (R² Cox and Snell = 0.414). At 13 months, only four cases of complicated grief were identified, characterized by younger patient age (d = 1.01), less material social support (d = 1.30), less leisure support (d = 1.20), shorter time from diagnosis to admission (d = 0.57), shorter time from diagnosis to death (d = 0.54), longer hospital stay (d = 1.11), and higher complicated grief scores at 6 months (d = 2.59).

The prevalence of complicated grief was low, likely due to effective palliative care. Complicated grief at 13 months can be predicted at 6 months. These findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for at-risk caregivers.