Economic Burden and Quality of Life of Primary Caregivers of Lymphoma Patients Attending the Paediatric Cancer Unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the white blood cells.Lymphoma is a major cause of high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide with over 350,000 cases yearly. In sub- Saharan Africa, its high incidence rate has been attributed to the high prevalence of malaria and HIV/ AIDS thereby increasing the burden of the disease. Lymphoma is the highest contributor among the top four cancers with leukemia, eye and kidney cancers, which together account for 70% predominant childhood cancers in Ghana. Lymphoma patients demand intensive care requiring support of primary caregivers and as a result, affect their quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the economic burden and quality of life of primary caregivers of lymphoma patients. Method: The study was a cross- sectional study involving primary caregivers of lymphoma patients attending the pediatric cancer unit at KomfoAnokye Teaching Hospital. The study adopted a cost- of- illness approach using a sample size of 156 primary caregivers. Direct cost was categorized into medical and non- medical cost incurred by primary caregivers over a month period. Indirect cost was estimated as the value of productive days lost to primary caregivers. Zarit Burden Interview was used to determine primary caregiver burden (intangible cost) while EUROHIS- QoL was used to determine the quality of life of primary caregivers. Data was entered into Microsoft Excel and Stata version 15 for analysis. RESULT: The median cost per month incurred by primary caregivers of lymphoma patients was estimated at GHS 1,957.92 (USD 409.61) of which median direct cost was GHS 1,895.00 (USD 396.44) per caregiver in a month representing 97% of the total cost profile. Median indirect cost per caregiver was estimated at GHS 62.92 (USD 13.16) in a month and represented 3% of the cost profile. Time spent by unemployed and student caregivers were not valued as they were not making any actual earnings. Male primary caregivers reported high caregiver burden than females with 94% of primary caregivers reporting high and 6% reporting low caregiver burden. Females recorded lower quality of life than males. Out of 156 primary caregivers, 85.26% recorded low quality of life, 11.24% recorded moderate quality of life and smaller proportion of 3.21% recorded high quality of life. CONCLUSION: The result showed that most primary caregivers were burdened with the care they provide to their care recipients as they incur huge medical and non-medical cost. The study also found out that some primary caregivers had to reduce workload due to the burden that comes with caring for lymphoma patients which mostly affect their quality of life. Although majority of primary caregivers were females, men reported being burdened psychologically than the females and more females reported to have lower quality of life than the male primary caregivers. Key words: Burden, Quality of life, Lymphoma, Direct cost, Indirect cost, Intangible cost.