Psychological burden on cancer patients and their caregivers during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Objective: Psychological burden is a serious issue facing by the cancer patients and their caregivers (CGs) around the world during the pandemic situations such as COVID-19. In the present study, we assessed the psychological burden on cancer patients and their CGs during this COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study was done using standardized questionnaire of the most validated scales - perceived stress scale and the caregiver strain index. Results: A total of 334 patients and 257 CGs participated in the present study. Majority of the patients experienced moderate to high level of stress (n = 239 [72%]), while CGs experienced a high level of strain (n = 132 [52%]). In the patient's cohort, stress was dependent significantly on education (p < 0.01), gender (p < 0.05), on active treatment (p < 0.001), and surgery (p < 0.05). Among CGs, strain was significantly affected by less education CGs (p < 0.001), patients more on active treatment (p < 0.01), and more primary gastrointestinal tumors (p < 0.01). From multivariate analysis of pandemic-specific factors, difficulty in transportation (p < 0.01) and increased financial burden (p < 0.05) were found to be significant influencing factors affecting the stress level of patients. Conclusion: To overcome the psychological burden due to lockdown, we suggest the initiation of psychosocial caring in all the necessary patients and their CGs to demonstrate its benefits in the long term.