Assessing the Effects of Burden on Alzheimer’s Patients’ Caregivers: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAlthough Alzheimer’s disease (AD) care is a heavily researched subject, caregiver burden is often overlooked. Caregiver burden may hinder care for those with AD. The objective is to assess caregiver burden in respect to sleep patterns, depression, and gender identity.MethodA comprehensive review of effects of caregiver burden for AD patients was conducted using databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Keywords “caregiver burden,” “Alzheimer’s,” and “dementia” were paired with “sleep disturbance,” “depression,” and “gender” to find relevant articles. All searches were performed by the authors and re‐assessed for accuracy. Searches were restricted to publications from 2008‐2022. Eligible studies were excluded if caregiver burden was associated with diseases other than AD. Inclusion criteria consisted of AD caregivers from homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. Papers in the review were not restricted to the US population.ResultAccording to literature, AD caregivers reported sleep disturbances, with 58% reporting poor sleep quality, ⅔ being disturbed in the middle of their sleep, and 47% being woken up several times throughout the night1. Studies indicated that those caregivers with worse sleep quality had more depressive symptoms. Most studies showed a positive association between depression and AD caregivers. One article indicated that caregivers demonstrated the following depressive attributes: poor ability to take care of themselves, ignorance of basic physical and emotional needs, and low self‐care2. Findings show that female caregivers experienced a higher level of burden compared to male caregivers, specifically in regard to time dependence, development, physical, and social burdens.ConclusionFindings suggest that the quality of sleep is decreased, depressive and other neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with caregiver burden, and females were more affected by caregiver burden than males. We recommend raising awareness and providing resources that may reduce this burden for AD caregivers.1. Creese, J., Bédard, M., Brazil, K., & Chambers, L. (2008). Sleep disturbances in spousal caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. International Psychogeriatrics, 20(1), 149‐161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S10416102070053392. Vespa, A., Spatuzzi, R., Fabbietti, P., Penna, M., & Giulietti, M. V. (2021). Association between care burden, depression and personality traits in Alzheimer’s caregiver: A pilot study. PloS One, 16(9), e0251813. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251813