Pre-loss symptoms related to risk of complicated grief in caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients.

Purpose: A number of studies have underlined a 10-20% prevalence of complicated grief (CG) among caregivers of cancer patients. The study aimed at examining the relationship between pre-loss criteria for CG and post-loss diagnosis of CG and at evaluating the validity and factor structure of a predictive tool, the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), in order to identify the risk of developing CG in a sample of Italian caregivers.

Methods: Sixty family members of terminally ill patients admitted to hospice and receiving a Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP) predictive 30 day survival time <30% completed the Pre-Death ICG (ICG-PL) (T0). Family members were met again 6 months after the death of their loved one (T1) and submitted to the interview for Complicated Grief (Post-loss interview-PLI).

Results: Caseness for CG was shown in 18.3% of caregivers at T1. ICG-PL score (T0) were higher among those who developed CG at T1 than non-cases. A cut off score ≥49 on the ICG-PL (AUC=0.98) maximized sensitivity (92%) and specificity (98%) on caseness at T1. Pre-loss criteria related to traumatic distress, separation distress and emotional symptoms in general were significantly related to a post-loss diagnosis of CG, while no effect was shown on duration of pre-loss distress.

Conclusions: The use of short screening tools, like the ICG-PL, may help health care professionals to identify subjects at risk for CG.