Dependence and caregiver burden in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.
Authors
Gallagher, DamienNi Mhaolain, Aine
Crosby, Lisa
Ryan, Deirdre
Lacey, Loretto
Coen, Robert F
Walsh, Cathal
Coakley, Davis
Walsh, J Bernard
Cunningham, Conal
Lawlor, Brian A
Affiliation
Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. gallagherdamien@hotmail.comIssue Date
2011-03MeSH
AgedAged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease
Caregivers
Cognition Disorders
Cost of Illness
Disability Evaluation
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Predictive Value of Tests
Regression Analysis
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Dependence and caregiver burden in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. 2011, 26 (2):110-4 Am J Alzheimers Dis Other DemenJournal
American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementiasDOI
10.1177/1533317510394649PubMed ID
21233138Additional Links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21233138Abstract
The dependence scale has been designed to be sensitive to the overall care needs of the patient and is considered distinct from standard measures of functional ability in this regard. Little is known regarding the relationship between patient dependence and caregiver burden. We recruited 100 patients with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment and their caregivers through a memory clinic. Patient function, dependence, hours of care, cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and caregiver burden were assessed. Dependence was significantly correlated with caregiver burden. Functional decline and dependence were most predictive of caregiver burden in patients with mild impairment while behavioral symptoms were most predictive in patients with moderate to severe disease. The dependence scale demonstrated good utility as a predictor of caregiver burden. Interventions to reduce caregiver burden should address patient dependence, functional decline, and behavioral symptoms while successful management of the latter becomes more critical with disease progression.Item Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
1938-2731ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/1533317510394649