Assessing the impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms on distress in professional caregivers

Abstract

Caregiver burden has been studied extensively in family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Behavioral disturbances have been widely reported to be a source of distress and burden for family caregivers. However, the study of the effects of behavioral disturbance on distress for professional caregivers in long-term care facilities has been relatively ignored. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients with dementia on distress in nursing home caregivers. One hundred and five professional caregiver interviews were done in order to assess distress related to the frequency and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms in one 125-bed proprietary nursing home staffed according to industry standards. Twelve licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and 12 certified nurses aids (CNAs) were interviewed regarding 69 nursing home residents using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home Version (NPI-NH). Agitation and apathy were found to be the two most distressing behaviors for both the LVNs and CNAs, but while the level of distress for the LVNs approaches that reported by family members in other published research, the CNAs report very little overall distress. In summary, professional caregiver distress appears to be a significant problem in LVN caregivers in long-term care settings.