The unbalanced needs and perceived supply of supportive care in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma: a cross-sectional study
- 1The School of Nursing, Fujian Medical University
Abstract
Background Understanding the needs of family caregivers of patients with cancer and providing appropriate support are essential to ease the burden of illness, facilitate family management, and reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes. Currently, the unmet supportive care needs in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma remain unclear. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. We used a self-developed questionnaire to assess the supportive care needs and perceived supply among 227 family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma in southeastern China. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify associated factors. Results The highest need was disease information (need rate = 90.04%), and the lowest perceived supply was psychosocial resources (supply rate = 50.05%). Unmet needs span all domains and items. Among the top 10 unmet needs were four items for psychosocial resources, three items for caregiving skills, two items for medical services, and one item for disease information. Caregivers whose patients had rural medical insurance, whose patients were in the primary or consolidation treatment stage, who were spouses of the patient, who had prior caregiving experience, and who also needed to care for children exhibited higher levels of supportive care needs (p < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings indicate that family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma have significant unmet needs and emphasize the necessity for more investment and resources in this area.
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BibTeX
@article{lin2026unbalanced,
title = {{The unbalanced needs and perceived supply of supportive care in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma: a cross-sectional study}},
author = {Yanfang Lin and Xueting Zhuang and Chunfeng Wang and Chengyang Li and Chunrong Chen and Yong Wu and Rong Hu},
journal = {BMC Palliative Care},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12904-026-02312-9},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-026-02312-9},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The unbalanced needs and perceived supply of supportive care in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma: a cross-sectional study
AU - Yanfang Lin
AU - Xueting Zhuang
AU - Chunfeng Wang
AU - Chengyang Li
AU - Chunrong Chen
AU - Yong Wu
AU - Rong Hu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/01
JO - BMC Palliative Care
DO - 10.1186/s12904-026-02312-9
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-026-02312-9
AB - Background Understanding the needs of family caregivers of patients with cancer and providing appropriate support are essential to ease the burden of illness, facilitate family management, and reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes. Currently, the unmet supportive care needs in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma remain unclear. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. We used a self-developed questionnaire to assess the supportive care needs and perceived supply among 227 family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma in southeastern China. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify associated factors. Results The highest need was disease information (need rate = 90.04%), and the lowest perceived supply was psychosocial resources (supply rate = 50.05%). Unmet needs span all domains and items. Among the top 10 unmet needs were four items for psychosocial resources, three items for caregiving skills, two items for medical services, and one item for disease information. Caregivers whose patients had rural medical insurance, whose patients were in the primary or consolidation treatment stage, who were spouses of the patient, who had prior caregiving experience, and who also needed to care for children exhibited higher levels of supportive care needs (p < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings indicate that family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma have significant unmet needs and emphasize the necessity for more investment and resources in this area.
SN - 1472-684X
ER -