Income Level as a Determinant of Prioritized Personal Worries of Care Among Caregivers of Cancer Patients

Abstract

This study examined income level as a determinant of prioritization of worries of care among caregivers of cancer patients at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (FETHA).The participants employed for the study were 27 female caregivers of cancer patients selected through the use of total population sampling technique. Their age ranged from 22 – 55 years, with a mean age of 39.77 and a standard deviation of 12.77. The instruments administered on them were Zarith Burden Interview (ZBI) and Worries of Caregivers of Cancer Patients’ Scale (WCPCS). Data on income level was collected via demographic section of the study instruments. Quasi-experiment which allowed one – way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adopted to test the hypothesis. The result showed that income level influenced the priority pattern of personal worries of care of the participants. It was recommended that subsidized health schemes should be made available for all citizen to redefine their perceived economic decrease due to caregiving.