Examination of the Relationship Between Quality of Life and Caregiving Burden Among Caregivers of Pediatric Oncology Patients

December 26, 2025 updated by: Fatma Beyza Akdeniz

EXAMİNATİON OF THE RELATİONSHİP BETWEEN QUALİTY OF LİFE AND CAREGİVİNG BURDEN AMONG CAREGİVERS OF PEDİATRİC OCOLOGY PATİENTS

Primary Aim

The primary aim of this study is to determine the quality of life and caregiving burden levels of caregivers of pediatric oncology patients and to examine the relationship between these two variables.

Secondary Aims

To evaluate the differences between caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, education level, marital status, income level, etc.) and their quality of life.

To examine the differences between caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics and their caregiving burden levels.

To determine whether caregivers' quality of life and caregiving burden differ according to the diagnosis and treatment characteristics of pediatric oncology patients (duration of diagnosis, type of treatment, frequency of hospitalization, etc.).

Significance of the Study

Childhood cancer is a process that deeply affects not only the patient but also the family, particularly the caregivers. Family members who provide care for children often face intense physical, psychological, social, and economic burdens. These challenges reduce caregivers' quality of life and increase their caregiving burden.

Identifying the relationship between the quality of life and caregiving burden among caregivers of pediatric oncology patients is highly important in planning support services for families during the care process and in strengthening family-centered care practices by healthcare professionals.

The findings of this study will contribute to the development of family-centered approaches in nursing care, the design of psychosocial support programs, and a better understanding of caregivers' needs.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
95

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study includes individuals who provide care for pediatric oncology patients. Primary caregivers aged 18 years and older who provide care for children diagnosed with cancer and who are hospitalized in the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit of Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital will be included in the study. The study will examine caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life, and levels of caregiving burden.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being a family member who provides care for a child aged 0-18 years diagnosed with cancer
  • The child being in the active treatment phase (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, post-surgical follow-up, etc.)
  • Being able to read and write in Turkish and having sufficient literacy to complete the research questionnaire
  • Willingness to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not being the primary caregiver of the child (serving only as a short-term companion)
  • Being unable to complete the questionnaire due to a psychiatric diagnosis or communication difficulties
  • The child having a disability

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Primary caregivers eighteen and older of hospitalized pediatric cancer patients will be included.
The study includes individuals who provide care for pediatric oncology patients. The research will involve primary caregivers aged 18 years or older who provide care for a child diagnosed with cancer and who are currently hospitalized in the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Unit of Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital. The study will examine caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life, and caregiving burden levels.
Behavioral: Assessment of caregiver quality of life and burden
This intervention consists of assessing the quality of life and caregiving burden of primary caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer using standardized questionnaires and scales. It does not involve any medical procedures, treatments, or experimental applications. The intervention includes only the administration of data collection tools to caregivers and is therefore distinct from treatment-based interventions used in other clinical studies.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC)
Time Frame: From the enrollment phase until the end of the 12-week data collection period.

The scale consists of 25 items and four subscales: burden (10 items: 9, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 31), disruptiveness (6 items: 1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 29), positive adaptation (6 items: 17, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33), and financial distress (3 items: 6, 7, 8). The scale is rated on a Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (almost never), 1 (not much), 2 (somewhat), 3 (quite a bit), to 4 (very much).

Subscale scores of the CQOLC are calculated by summing the items within each subscale. The total CQOLC score is obtained by summing all 25 items. The total CQOLC score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating lower quality of life. The overall internal consistency coefficient of the scale is .88, while the Cronbach's alpha values for the subscales of burden, disruptiveness, positive adaptation, and financial distress are reported as .83, .79, .73, and .77, respectively.
From the enrollment phase until the end of the 12-week data collection period.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Caregiver Burden Scale
Time Frame: From the enrollment phase until the end of the 12-week data collection period.
The scale consists of 36 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale and includes four subscales. The emotional burden subscale comprises 12 items, the sociocultural and economic burden subscale comprises 11 items, the mental burden subscale comprises 7 items, and the physical burden subscale comprises 6 items. Participants completing the scale indicate their level of agreement with statements related to the caregiving burden experienced during the process of caring for their child using the following response options: "1 = Never, 2 = Rarely, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Often, 5 = Always." The minimum possible total score is 36 (36 items × 1 point), and the maximum possible total score is 180 (36 items × 5 points). The caregiver burden level is determined by summing the responses to all items. Accordingly, mean score ranges are interpreted as follows: mean scores of 1.00-2.00 indicate "no or low burden," 2.00-3.00 indicate "mild to moderate burden," 3.00-4.00-5.00 indicate "
From the enrollment phase until the end of the 12-week data collection period.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Fatma Beyza Akdeniz

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 15, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 15, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 31, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 26, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2024-KAEK-11

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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