Enhancing resilient coping strategies for quality of life in Chinese adult children caregiving for parents with advanced cancer: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the mediating role of individual resilience in the relationship between caregiver burden and quality of life (QoL) among Chinese adult children providing care to their parents with advanced cancer, with the aim to inform effective coping strategies and positive caregiving outcomes. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 614 caregivers from multiple centers, whose parents were undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, completed questionnaires encompassing demographics, caregiver burden, symptoms of anxiety and depression, resilience, and QoL. RESULTS: Findings revealed a moderate level of caregiver burden among participants, significantly influenced by factors including education level, family income, single-child status, and participation in social media patient support groups. Caregivers who were only children or involved in patient support groups reported higher burden. Importantly, path analysis showed a significant impact of caregiver burden, anxiety, and depression on QoL, with these relationships being mediated by individual resilience. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese adult child caregivers face a considerable burden, negatively influencing their QoL. Individual resilience, a modifiable factor, was identified as a critical mediator in this relationship, mitigating the negative implications of caregiver burden, anxiety, and depression. These findings underscore the need for caregiver interventions that consider not only demographics but also the socio-psychological dynamics of caregiving to enhance caregiver QoL.

Survival prediction for patients with malignant biliary obstruction caused by pancreatic cancer undergoing biliary drainage: the COMBO-PaS model.

BACKGROUND: Patients with pancreatic cancer-caused biliary obstruction (PC-BO) have poor prognosis, but we lack of tools to predict survival for clinical decision-making. This study aims to establish a model for survival prediction among patients with PC-BO. METHODS: A total of 172 patients with PC-BO treated with percutaneous biliary drainage were randomly divided into a training group (n = 120) and a validation group (n = 52). The independent risk factors for overall survival were selected to develop a Cox model. The predictive performance of M stage, hepatic metastases, cancer antigen 199, and the Cox model was determined. Naples prognostic score (NPS), the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) for 1-month mortality risk were compared with the Cox model. RESULTS: The Cox model was developed based on total cholesterol, direct bilirubin, hepatic metastases, cancer antigen 199, stenosis type, and preprocedural infection (all P < 0.05), which named "COMBO-PaS." The COMBO-PaS model had the highest area under the curves (AUC) (0.801-0.933) comparing with other predictors (0.506-0.740) for 1-, 3-, and 6-month survival prediction. For 1-month mortality risk prediction, the COMBO-PaS model had the highest AUC of 0.829 comparing with NPS, PNI, and CONUT. CONCLUSION: The COMBO-PaS model was useful for survival prediction among patients with PC-BO.