Caregiver Burden Associated with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia in Elderly People in the Local Community

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 219 - 224
• Main Authors: Matsumoto, Naomi, Ikeda, Manabu, Fukuhara, Ryuji, Shinagawa, Shunichiro, Ishikawa, Tomohisa, Mori, Takaaki, Toyota, Yasutaka, Matsumoto, Teruhisa, Adachi, Hiroyoshi, Hirono, Nobutsugu, Tanabe, Hirotaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.01.2007; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - nursing; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Behavioral Symptoms - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Caregivers - psychology; Cost of Illness; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Delusions - etiology; Dementia; Dementia - complications; Dementia - nursing; Dementia - psychology; Dementia, Vascular - complications; Dementia, Vascular - nursing; Dementia, Vascular - psychology; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Humans; Irritable Mood; Medical sciences; Neurology; Original Research Article; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Population Surveillance; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychomotor Agitation - etiology; Stress, Psychological - diagnosis; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Toxicity: nervous system and muscle; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Nakayama study; Caregiver's burden; Neuropsychiatric Inventory; Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; Neuropsychiatric Inventory Caregiver Distress Scale; Human; Nervous system diseases; Cognitive disorder; Caregiver; Behavioral disorder; Mental disorder; Degenerative disease; Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia; Elderly; Dementia
• ISSN: 1420-8008; 1421-9824
• DOI: 10.1159/000099472

Background: Despite many studies about the association between caregiver burden and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), there have been no population-based studies to evaluate caregiver burden associated with each BPSD. Objective: To evaluate caregiver burden associated with the individual BPSD in elderly people living in the community. Methods: The subjects were 67 participants with dementia living with their caregivers (diagnosed in the third Nakayama study): 51 Alzheimer’s disease, 5 vascular dementia and 11 other. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and NPI Caregiver Distress Scale (NPI-D) were used to assess subjects’ BPSD and related caregiver distress, respectively. Results: In the subjects exhibiting BPSD, aberrant motor behavior had the highest mean NPI score, and depression/dysphoria had the lowest. Agitation/aggression had the highest mean NPI-D score, and euphoria/elation had the lowest. Delusion, agitation/aggression, apathy/indifference, irritability/lability and aberrant motor behavior showed a correlation between the NPI and NPI-D scores. Conclusion: The burden associated with BPSD is different for each symptom and does not always depend on frequency and severity of BPSD. These findings suggest that some symptoms, such as agitation/aggression and irritability/lability, may affect the caregivers significantly, although their frequency and severity are low.