TY - JOUR
T1 - Bereaved relatives’ quality of life before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of the prospective, multicenter, observational eQuiPe study
AU - Ham, Laurien
AU - Fransen, Heidi P.
AU - van den Borne, Ben
AU - Hendriks, Mathijs P.
AU - van Laarhoven, Hanneke W. M.
AU - van der Padt-Pruijsten, Annemieke
AU - Raijmakers, Natasja
AU - van Roij, Janneke
AU - Sommeijer, Dirkje W.
AU - Vriens, Birgit E. PJ
AU - van Zuylen, Lia
AU - van de Poll – Franse, Lonneke
N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The eQuiPe study is funded by the Roparun Foundation Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Background: The death of a loved one is considered as one of the most stressful life events. During the COVID-19 pandemic, grief processes are potentially affected by measures such as social distancing and self-quarantine. Aim: The aim of this study was to give insight in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life, social support, and self-care of bereaved relatives of people with advanced cancer in order to evaluate whether care for bereaved relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic should be improved. Design: A cross-sectional analysis using data from bereaved relatives of a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life of people with advanced cancer and their (bereaved) relatives (eQuiPe). Setting/participants: Quality of life, social support, and self-care of bereaved relatives who completed a questionnaire within 3–6 months after their relative died during COVID-19 (April-November 2020) were compared with bereaved relatives who completed this questionnaire pre-COVID-19 (April-November 2019). Results: Ninety-one bereaved relatives were included in the analysis, 44 bereaved relatives completed the questionnaire pre-COVID-19 and 47 during COVID-19. The median age of the participants was 65 (IQR = 14) years and 58% were female. There were no significant differences between the pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 bereaved relatives in quality of life (68 vs 69), social support (17 vs 18), and self-care (20 vs 19). Conclusions: On the short-term, the COVID-19 pandemic did not have significant impact on bereaved relatives’ wellbeing. However, long-term impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing should be assessed.
AB - Background: The death of a loved one is considered as one of the most stressful life events. During the COVID-19 pandemic, grief processes are potentially affected by measures such as social distancing and self-quarantine. Aim: The aim of this study was to give insight in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life, social support, and self-care of bereaved relatives of people with advanced cancer in order to evaluate whether care for bereaved relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic should be improved. Design: A cross-sectional analysis using data from bereaved relatives of a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life of people with advanced cancer and their (bereaved) relatives (eQuiPe). Setting/participants: Quality of life, social support, and self-care of bereaved relatives who completed a questionnaire within 3–6 months after their relative died during COVID-19 (April-November 2020) were compared with bereaved relatives who completed this questionnaire pre-COVID-19 (April-November 2019). Results: Ninety-one bereaved relatives were included in the analysis, 44 bereaved relatives completed the questionnaire pre-COVID-19 and 47 during COVID-19. The median age of the participants was 65 (IQR = 14) years and 58% were female. There were no significant differences between the pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 bereaved relatives in quality of life (68 vs 69), social support (17 vs 18), and self-care (20 vs 19). Conclusions: On the short-term, the COVID-19 pandemic did not have significant impact on bereaved relatives’ wellbeing. However, long-term impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing should be assessed.
KW - COVID-19
KW - bereavement
KW - cross-sectional study
KW - quality of life
KW - self-care
KW - social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110951986&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211034120
DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211034120
M3 - Article
C2 - 34282688
SN - 0269-2163
VL - 35
SP - 1502
EP - 1507
JO - Palliative medicine
JF - Palliative medicine
IS - 8
ER -