<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>
Family caregivers of
cancer patients often suffer from impaired
quality of life (QOL) due to stress arising from the responsibility of caregiving. Most
research on such QOL impairments was conducted in Western
populations. Thus, this exploratory study sought to (a) examine the QOL levels of
family caregivers of
cancer patients in an
Asian population in
Singapore, in relation to
caregivers from other countries within and outside of
Asia; and (b) investigate the
association between
sociodemographic factors and QOL impairments in
family caregivers in
Singapore.</p><p><b>
METHODS</b>A total of 258
family caregivers of
cancer patients who were receiving
outpatient treatment completed the
Caregiver Quality of Life Index-
Cancer (CQOLC) and a sociodemographic
survey. We compared the published CQOLC total scores from
Turkey,
Iran,
Taiwan,
South Korea, the
United Kingdom, the
United States and
Canada with the
Singapore dataset and examined the demographic relationships.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>
Caregivers in
Singapore and
Asia had lower CQOLC total scores than their Western counterparts.
Caregivers who were
male, of
Chinese ethnicity, had parental relationships with their care recipient, or cared for advanced-stage
cancer patients were found to have impaired QOL.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The findings of this study highlight possible areas in which support can be provided for
family caregivers of
cancer patients, and underscore the need to reconcile
cultural diversity, values, societal
expectations and demographic characteristics in
Singapore.</p>