Gender as a predictor of burden and psychological distress of elderly husbands and wives of cancer patients

The aim of the study is to explore whether gender is a cause of differences in the perception of burden on the part of 39 elderly wife caregivers and 21 elderly husband caregivers of cancer patients. The patients were being treated at an oncological medical center in northern Israel. At the time of interview the patients had no evidence of the disease. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that caregiver gender (i.e., husbands) and age, as well as the patient's psychological distress, predicted greater burden, although gender did not predict greater psychological distress.