Psychiatry Investig.  2014 Apr;11(2):152-159. 10.4306/pi.2014.11.2.152.

Factors Associated with Caregiver Burden in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Affiliations
  • 1Center for Clinical Research, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea. paulkim@skku.edu
  • 2Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 3Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 4Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 5Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 6Department of Neurology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 7Department of Neurology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
  • 8Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 9Biostatistics Unit, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
Caregivers for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) suffer from psychological and financial burdens. However, the results of the relationship between burden and cognitive function, performance of activities of daily living, and depressive symptoms have remained inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine which factors are more significant predictors of heightened burden, cognitive impairment or functional decline, besides neuropsychiatric symptoms.
METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample comprised of 1,164 pairs of patients with AD and caregivers from the Clinical Research of Dementia of South Korea study cohorts. The cognitive function of each sub-domain, functional impairments, depressive symptoms, and caregiver burden were assessed using the dementia version of Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery (SNSB-D), Barthel Index for Daily Living Activities (ADL), Seoul-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (S-IADL), the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Box (CDR-SB), the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI), and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale.
RESULTS
We found that higher severity (higher CDR-SB and GDS scores) and more functional impairment (lower ADL and higher S-IADL scores) were significantly associated with higher caregiver burden. In addition, depressive symptoms of patients (higher Geriatric Depression Scale scores) were associated with higher caregiver burden.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, interventions to help maintain activities of daily living in patients with AD may alleviate caregiver burden and improve caregiver well-being.

Keyword

Caregiver; Alzheimer's disease; Cognition; Activities of daily living

MeSH Terms

Activities of Daily Living
Alzheimer Disease*
Caregivers*
Cognition
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dementia
Depression
Humans
Korea
Mass Screening
Seoul
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