Psychological distress of family members with cancer patients in Japan.

BACKGROUND: There were no previous studies in Japan on the psychological distress of members of families with cancer patients which focussed on the disclosure of the diagnosis of cancer. This study was designed to investigate factors that may have an effect on the psychological distress of family members. METHODS: The subjects were 95 members of families of cancer patients in the surgical ward; one member was recruited from each patient's family. The psychiatrist investigated the demographic factors of both the patient and the family member: for the patient - gender, age, occupation, cancer site, disclosure (or not) of cancer diagnosis, cancer stage and performance status (PS); for the family member - gender, age, occupation, relationship to the patient, physical illness, frequency of visiting the ward, the period from when the family member was informed of the diagnosis, and any past experience of the loss of close relatives due to cancer. Furthermore, we conducted a survey on the family member's anxiety...