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The CARING intervention for neuro-oncology family caregivers: Primary outcomes from an abbreviated randomized
Maija Reblin1, Steven K Sutton2, Hyojin Choi1
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Background:
We developed CARING to support neuro-oncology caregivers. CARING includes eSNAP, a web-based tool to identify social support resources, and 8 weeks of individual phone-based non-clinical navigation focused on support identification and coping skills. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of CARING on caregiver and patient psychosocial outcomes.
Methods:
We compared CARING to a waitlist control (WLC) in an RCT. Neuro-oncology patients and their caregivers were recruited from a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in Florida from February 2020 to June 2024. Eighty-one caregivers were assigned to CARING and 35 to WLC. All participants completed baseline measures, including demographics and health data. Primary outcomes collected at 8 weeks were caregiver support and self-efficacy. Secondary outcomes were caregiver burden, personal gain, and caregiver and patient anxiety and depressive symptoms. General Linear Mixed Models examined changes in outcomes from baseline to 8 weeks by condition.
Results:
No significant demographic differences existed between conditions. CARING caregivers reported significantly lower ratings of stress/frustration compared to feeling in control/hope (F(1,92) = 6.19, P = .015) at 8 weeks compared to WLC. There was a significant increase in personal gain (M = 0.7, SD = 2.5, t(63) = 2.13, P = .037) and a marginally-significant increase in self-efficacy (M = 1.6, SD = 6.6, t(61) = 1.88, P = .065) for CARING caregivers at 8 weeks. Although the intervention is targeted only at caregivers, patients of CARING caregivers reported marginally significantly fewer depressive symptoms (F(1,51) = 2.89, P = .096) at 8 weeks compared to WLC.
Conclusion:
CARING decreases the ratio of negative to positive emotions and perceptions of personal gain in caregivers at 8 weeks, compared to WLC.
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