Psychiatry Investig.  2017 Jul;14(4):458-462. 10.4306/pi.2017.14.4.458.

Dementia Care by Healthy Elderly Caregivers Is Associated with Improvement of Patients' Memory and the Caregivers' Quality of Life: A Before and After Study

• Kang SG
• Na KS
• Kang JM
• Yeon BK
• Lee JY
• Cho SJ

• KMID: 2387137
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2017.14.4.458

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The provision of care for elderly people with dementia by healthy elderly caregivers is one of the new health-care paradigms in South Korea. The aim of this study was to determine whether this type of care, which includes cognitive stimulation, would improve the cognitive function of dementia patients and the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregiver.
METHODS
Totals of 132 dementia patients and 197 healthy elderly caregivers participated in this study. We evaluated the cognitive function of the dementia patients at baseline and after providing the program for 6 months using the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease, 1st Edition (CERAD-K). We also evaluated the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregivers using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Short Version (WHOQOL-BREF) at baseline and after 6 months.
RESULTS
The word-list memory results of CERAD-K for the included dementia patients improved after 6 months (Z=-2.855, p=0.004). The WHOQOL-BREF score among the elderly caregiver also improved significantly (Z=-2.354, p=0.019).
CONCLUSION
These data suggest that dementia care is associated with improvements in both the cognitive function of dementia patients and the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregivers.

Keyword

Care; Dementia; Elderly; Memory; Quality of life

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Alzheimer Disease
Caregivers*
Cognition
Dementia*
Humans
Korea
Memory*
Quality of Life*
World Health Organization