ReviewCancer nursing
A labor of love: the influence of cancer caregiving on health behaviors.
Review in Cancer nursing. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary Quality and Intake of Cancer Caregivers: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies and Recommendations for Future Research.Cancer medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Caring for the caregivers: breast and cervical cancer screening among informal caregivers of cancer patients - a scoping review.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Associations of Cancer-Related Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Gender With Health Behaviors Among Caregivers of Adult Patients With Colorectal Cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Associations of role, area deprivation index, and race with health behaviors and body mass index among localized prostate cancer patients and their partners.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Patterns of dietary quality, physical activity, and sleep duration among cancer survivors and caregivers.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Patterns of lifestyle risk behaviors for cardiovascular disease in family caregivers: a latent class analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Opportunities and Challenges for Augmented Reality in Family Caregiving: Qualitative Video Elicitation Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Changes in rural caregivers' health behaviors while supporting someone with cancer: A qualitative study.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Lifestyle changes after cancer treatment in patients and their partners: a qualitative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Assessing the individual risk of stroke in caregivers of patients with stroke.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2024Article
- Patterns of health-promoting behaviors and associated factors in family caregivers of people receiving cancer treatment: A latent class profile analysis.Psycho-oncology · 2023Article
- The Dyadic Cancer Outcomes Framework: A general framework of the effects of cancer on patients and informal caregivers.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Review
- Caregiver Status and Diet Quality in Community-Dwelling Adults.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Determinants of Health Promotion Behaviors among Family Caregivers of Stroke Survivors.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Interrelationships Between Health Behaviors and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Survivors.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2018Article
- Article
- Role of psychosocial work factors in the relation between becoming a caregiver and changes in health behaviour: results from the Whitehall II cohort study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2016Article
- Spousal Caregivers of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Patients: Differences between Caregivers with Low vs. High Caregiving Demands.Rehabilitation nursing : the official journal of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses · 2016Article
- The relationship of health behaviors with sleep and fatigue in transplant caregivers.Psycho-oncology · 2016Article
- A Comparison of the Reactions of Caregivers of Patients With Cancer Versus Patients With Other Chronic Medical Conditions.Oncology nursing forum · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence suggests that emotional distress and objective demands of cancer caregiving are comparable to those of dementia caregiving, yet little research has focused on the physical health of cancer caregivers. Whether the stress leads directly to changes in health or whether the stress leads to changes in health behaviors, which in turn affect health, has not been systematically examined.
objectiveThe objective of this study was to review the research literature regarding changes in health behaviors associated with caring for an individual with cancer.
methodsLiterature was reviewed from multiple databases including CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), CINAHL Plus, PsycNET, PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Key words included "health behavior," "health promotion," "caregivers/caregiving," "cancer/oncology," "diet/nutrition," "exercise/physical activity," "stress management," "smoking" and "alcohol." Studies were included if they involved informal adult caregivers and at least 1 behavior associated with a healthy lifestyle. Of the 866 studies identified, 8 met the criteria.
resultsStudies revealed conflicting information, with some suggesting deleterious changes in behaviors, whereas others found the changes protective.
conclusionsThe lack of uniformity of terminology and conflicting findings make it difficult to conclude the impact of the caregiving experience on the health behaviors of cancer caregivers. Something is placing caregivers at risk for illness and early death, but the mechanisms behind the risk and the role of unhealthy behaviors are not clear. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: At a minimum, cancer caregivers should be screened for behavior changes and disease risk. Developing standardized measures for future research including controlled, longitudinal studies is needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.