Abstract: Objective: To investigate the changes of family caregivers' care burden in patients with colorectal cancer after operation, in the middle of chemotherapy, after chemotherapy and 3 months after chemotherapy. Methods: A longitudinal study design was used to conduct a questionnaire survey including general self-efficacy, social support, family caregiver task, ways of coping and caregiver reaction assessment questionnaire on 185 family caregivers of colorectal cancer patients who met the recruiting criteria in 7 tertiary hospitals located in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan and Jiangsu at four time points. Results: The family caregivers of patients with colorectal cancer generally had the burden of care, and the two dimensions of "time disturbed" and "financial difficulties" had a greater impact on caregivers; the burden of care first increased and then decreased during the follow-up period, and was more serious in the mid-term of chemotherapy. The factors that increased the burden of care included living with patients, few people for sharing, caregivers' lacking of general self-efficacy, social support and care ability, less positive coping and more negative coping. Conclusion: The care burden of family caregivers increased first and then decreased with time. Clinical staff should focus on improving caregivers' self-efficacy, social support, care ability and coping styles.

Key words: colorectal cancer; family caregivers; care burden; longitudinal study