Cross-sectional study reveals healthy behaviors mitigate frequent mental distress in cancer caregivers, suggesting multi-behavioral interventions offset psychological burden.
Key Points
To evaluate the relationship between individual and cumulative protective health behaviors and frequent mental distress among cancer versus non-cancer caregivers in the United States.
Cross-sectional analysis of adult caregivers from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data (N=10,923, with 1,483 cancer caregivers).
Frequent mental distress (FMD) was defined as experiencing 14 or more days of poor mental health within the past 30 days.
A Cumulative Protective Factor Score (0–4) was calculated using sufficient sleep, regular physical activity, non-smoking status, and adequate emotional support.
Cancer caregivers had a significantly higher prevalence of FMD than non-cancer caregivers (21.6% [314/1,483] vs 13.0% [1,227/9,440], p < 0.001) and fewer overall protective factors.
Each individual protective behavior was linked to lower odds of FMD (all p < 0.001), though the protective effects of sleep, physical activity, and emotional support were attenuated in cancer caregivers.
At the highest score of 4 cumulative protective factors, predicted FMD was 10% in cancer caregivers versus 7% in non-cancer caregivers (p = 0.12), with female cancer caregivers showing higher distress than males across all scores.