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Factors associated with psychological distress and grief resolution in surviving spouses of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer

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Abstract

Goals of work

Patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer often have a short survival time. This means that spouses only have a short time to adjust to the approaching death. The aim was to explore whether psychological distress at diagnosis, the course of the illness (anti-tumour treatment, respite period and survival time), the spouses’ experience of the care and of losing a loved one were related to distress and grief resolution after the patient had deceased.

Materials and methods

Twenty-one spouses were followed prospectively from the patient’s diagnosis of advanced gastrointestinal cancer to 6 months after the patient death. Spouses’ experiences were measured with an interview, psychological distress with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and grief resolution with the Grief Resolution Index.

Main results

The spouses’ anxiety at the time of diagnosis was related to their anxiety and grief resolution at follow-up. Two additional factors were associated with higher levels of anxiety at follow-up; the patient having received anti-tumour treatment and the spouse having experienced stress as a caregiver.

Conclusions

The study indicates that anti-tumour treatment, though it has the potential to prolong life, does not positively influence spouses’ psychological distress and bereavement after the death of the patient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Section of Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala Science Park, 751 83, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jeanette Winterling, Elisabet Wasteson, Cecilia Arving & Karin Nordin

  2. Department of Oncology, Radiology and Clinical Immunology, Section of Oncology, Uppsala University, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden

    Birgitta Johansson & Bengt Glimelius

  3. Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Bengt Glimelius

  4. Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7804, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Karin Nordin

  5. Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jeanette Winterling

Authors
  1. Jeanette Winterling
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  2. Elisabet Wasteson
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  3. Cecilia Arving
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  4. Birgitta Johansson
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  5. Bengt Glimelius
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  6. Karin Nordin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeanette Winterling.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 6 Interview guide concerning the spouses’ experiences of the palliative phase
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Winterling, J., Wasteson, E., Arving, C. et al. Factors associated with psychological distress and grief resolution in surviving spouses of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer. Support Care Cancer 18, 1377–1384 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0753-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0753-9

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