Psychological distress in primary caregivers of children with cancer during COVID‐19 pandemic‐A single tertiary care center experience

Objective Families of children with cancer undergoing treatment during COVID‐19 pandemic represent a vulnerable population for psychological distress and early identification and remedial measures are imperative for wellbeing of both the children and the caregivers. This article reports the results of assessment of psychological distress in primary caregivers of children with cancer undergoing treatment at a tertiary care center. Methods Primary caregivers of children with cancer (≤15 years) taking treatment at our institute during the period of July 2020 to August 2020 were prospectively evaluated for psychological distress using Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7) tools over a telephonic call. There were 2 cohorts, A and B (50 participants each) depending on whether child was diagnosed with COVID‐19 or not respectively during the study period. Results The assessment tool, PHQ‐9 showed a score of ≥10 in 13% (n = 13) participants (95%CI:7.1%–21.2%) in the entire cohort and in 16% (n = 8, 95%CI:5.8%–26.2%) and 10% (n = 5, 95%CI:1.7%–18.3%) participants in cohort A and cohort B respectively. GAD‐7 showed a score of ≥8 in 18% (n = 18) participants (95%CI:11.0%–27.0%) in the entire cohort and in 20% (n = 10, 95%CI:8.9%–31.1%) and 16% (n = 8, 95%CI:5.8%–26.2%) participants in cohort A and cohort B respectively. All participants were assessed, and supportive psychotherapeutic interventions administered over telephonic call. Conclusions Primary caregivers should be assessed and followed up for psychological distress irrespective of other co‐existing factors. Robust support systems built over time could help withstand the exceptional strain of a major surge during a pandemic.