Correlation between anxiety, depression, family functioning and quality of life, in palliative care cancer patients

Abstract

The objective of this work is to determine the correlation between anxiety, depression, family 
functioning and their association with quality of life in palliative care cancer patients. A cross-sectional 
comparative study design was used. The study was conducted at the inpatient department of Faculty of 
Medicine, Department of Palliative Care, University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia, between August 2009 and August 2010 on the palliative care cancer patients. The sample 
consisted of 288 palliative care cancer patients selected through non-probability convenient sampling 
technique. Consecutive patients with advanced cancer under the care of palliative care services were 
screened. Anxiety, depression, family functioning and quality of life were assessed with hospital 
anxiety and depression scale (HADS), family adaptability, partnership, growth, affection, and resolve 
(APGAR) scale and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life 
Questionnaire C30 (EORTC-QLQ-C30) respectively. Data was collected and was analyzed using SPSS 
VERSION 13. A highly significant negative correlation was found between depression, anxiety and 
quality of life whereas family functioning and quality of life were positively correlated. In the present 
study, we detected that anxiety and depression were strongly associated with poor quality of life in 
palliative care cancer patients. The patients with severe anxiety and depression had dysfunctional 
family functioning and poor quality of life when compared to those palliative care cancer patients who 
had low or no anxiety and depression.