The Effect of Benson Relaxation Technique on Caregiver Burden in the Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Informal caregivers provide long-term support and care for cancer patients and they do not receive enough support from the family and the health system; as a result, they suffer from a lot of caregiver burden.

In the current study, we investigated the effect of the Benson relaxation technique on caregiver burden in informal caregivers of cancer patients.

This randomized clinical trial with a control group was conducted on 113 caregivers, who scored X  48 from the Novak and Guest caregiver burden inventory. They were randomly divided into intervention group (n = 57) and control group (n = 56). The intervention group performed Benson relaxation twice a day for 20 minutes each time for 1 month. The control group did not receive any intervention. Then, after 1 month, Novak and Guest caregiver burden questionnaire was completed by both groups. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the general system theory modified by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy.

The mean score of the total caregiver burden before the intervention in the intervention and control groups was 71.16 ± 14.42 and 74.47 ± 15.16, respectively. After the intervention, the mean score of the total care burden in the intervention and control groups changed to 57.21 ± 14.66 and 75.47 ± 13.94, respectively. Data analysis shows a significant decrease in the intervention group (P = 0.000).

The results showed that the Benson relaxation technique as a cheap and non-pharmacological method effectively reduces the caregiver burden in informal caregivers of cancer patients.