gms | German Medical Science

68th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)
7th Joint Meeting with the British Neurosurgical Society (SBNS)

German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

14 - 17 May 2017, Magdeburg

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Carer quality of life reduced in degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM)

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  • O. D. Mowforth - University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Academic Neurosurgery Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • I. Sadler - University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Academic Neurosurgery Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Benjamin M. Davies - University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Academic Neurosurgery Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Mark R. N. Kotter - University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Academic Neurosurgery Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Society of British Neurological Surgeons. 68. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), 7. Joint Meeting mit der Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS). Magdeburg, 14.-17.05.2017. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2017. DocMO.15.06

doi: 10.3205/17dgnc089, urn:nbn:de:0183-17dgnc0894

Published: June 9, 2017

© 2017 Mowforth et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objectives: DCM can leave patients with permanent disability and reliant on others for support. The impact of the disease on their carers is unknown. This project used the Care Related Quality of Life (CarerQol) instrument to measure this.

Methods: An internet-based survey was conducted. Self-reported carers of patients with DCM were recruited using Social Media, Google Adwords® and the Myelopathy.org community. CarerQol 7D (burden) and VAS (happiness) scores, alongside patient (including Nurick disease severity and pain scores) and carer demographics were collected (N=110). Missing data analysis was performed. Full survey responses (N=49) were analysed. Correlations (Spearman’s rho) and between group differences (one-way ANOVA) were performed (p<0.05).

Results: Mean CarerQol-7D was 64.7 +/- 20.7. Mean CarerQol-VAS was 6.20 +/- 2.30. Carers reported financial (47%), own mental (73%) or physical health (69%) consequences. Disease characteristics correlated weakly with carer burden (Nurick r = .26, p = .073 and limb pain (r = .13, p = .390)) and carer happiness (Nurick r = -.12, p = .428). Age, gender and length of time caring did not influence CarerQol measures.

Conclusions: Carer quality of life is affected by DCM. Whilst current participant numbers hinder statistical significance and limit the strength of conclusions, patient disease characteristics may not explain the reduced CarerQol. Further study, including focus on carer characteristics is required to elucidate the widely unappreciated consequences of informal care provision.