Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to demonstrate whether the care burden of caregivers of bedridden patients, who experience feeding difficulties, decreases according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (1) after the patient has undergone PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy). The hypothesis of the study was that the levels of anxiety and depression of caregivers for patients fed via PEG decrease more than those for caregivers of patients fed through other enteral methods. Based on this, the goal is to recommend to palliative care and home care professionals the type of feeding method for bedridden patients that will create less burden on their relatives. METHODS: A comparison was made of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores among caregivers of patients receiving PEG and other enteral nutrition, focusing on changes between hospital admission and discharge. These changes were analyzed based on the caregiver's age, gender, and the duration of the patient's hospital stay. METHODS: This study conducted a comparative analysis of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores among caregivers of patients receiving Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) versus other forms of enteral nutrition. The focus was on the variation in these scores from the time of the patients' hospital admission to their discharge. This analysis incorporated an examination of how these changes correlated with the caregiver's age and gender, as well as the duration of the patient's hospitalization. RESULTS: Despite longer hospital stays, a decrease in anxiety and depression was observed in caregivers of patients receiving PEG compared to the other group (p = 0.078). It was found that the decrease in anxiety and depression levels was less pronounced with increasing age of the caregiver (r=-0.202, p = 0.038). Hospital stay duration for patients receiving PEG was significantly longer than for those receiving other enteral nutrition methods (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: We believe that Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) should be the preferred method for long-term enteral nutrition due to its facilitation of effective and comfortable feeding and medication administration by caregivers. In palliative care services, for patients requiring long-term nutrition, PEG should be considered more prominently than other enteral feeding methods to reduce the anxiety of caregivers.