Paper
Thursday, July 14, 2005
This presentation is part of : Care of Individuals With Cancer
Gender Differences in Sleep Disturbance, Fatigue, and Depression in Korean Gastric Cancer Patients and Their Family Caregivers
Maria H. Cho, RN, PhD1, Marylin J. Dodd, RN, PhD, FAAN1, Kathryn A. Lee, RN, PhD, FAAN2, Geraldine Padilla, PhD3, and Rob Slaughter, PhD4. (1) Physiological Nursing, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, (2) Family Health Care Nursing, Unviersity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, (3) Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, (4) Office of Research, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Learning Objective #1: Discuss symptom manifestations in Korean cancer patients and their family caregivers
Learning Objective #2: Discuss gender-specific differences in symptom experience in Korean cancer patients and their family caregivers
This presentation reports on the little explored area of sleep problems and symptom experience of Korean gastric cancer patients and their family caregivers. Cancer treatment often leads to the experience of sleep disturbances, fatigue, and depression by both the patient and caregiver. Few studies have reported on the relationship between gender and altered sleep quality, fatigue and depression in this population.

Purpose: To compare gender differences in the symptom experience of Korean gastric cancer patients and their family caregivers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 103 Korean gastric cancer patients and 103 family caregivers. Patient subjects included 71 males and 32 females (mean age=52 years; SD 10.1). Caregiver subjects included 23 males and 80 females, (mean age=48 years; SD 11.4). Approximately 60% of all patients and caregivers had at least a high school education with moderate income. Demographic Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Lee Fatigue Scale, and CES-Depression Scale were used and have established reliability and validity. Descriptive statistics, Independent t-test compared gender within groups and Paired t-test compared symptoms between groups.

Results: When sleep quality, fatigue, and depression were compared between patients and caregivers, there were significant differences between patients' global PSQI scores (mean=6.92, SD=2.62) and their caregivers (mean=5.81, SD=2.20; p=0.001), indicating that patients had more sleep disturbance. There were no statistically significant differences in fatigue and depression, respectively, between patients and caregivers. When symptom experience and gender was compared, there were statistically significant differences in fatigue (p<0.005) and depression (p<0.005) among patients. For caregivers, there were significant differences in fatigue (p<0.001) and depression (p<0.001) scores by gender. While both patients and caregivers experienced unpleasant symptoms, the findings suggest that Korean females experienced more intense fatigue and depression.

Implications for Nursing: Oncology nurses should consider gender differences when assessing symptoms in patients and their family caregivers.

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Renew Nursing Through Scholarship
14-16 July 2005
Hawaii’s Big Island