Dementia Caregiver Interventions: A Systematic Review of CareRecipient Outcome Measures

Abstract

Within the last years various interventions for cognitively impaired persons and their informal care- givers have been developed and evaluated. As different these interventions are, as different are the outcome dimen- sions and instruments used. There might be the potential to affect outcomes on both sides. Therefore, the aim of this review is to analyze the amount of studies that report on care recipient outcomes, to show what main outcome dimensions can be categorized, and which validated instruments are most frequently used. A systematic literature search of the electronic databases PubMed, Medline and PsycINFO was conducted. Overall 1547 studies were iden- tified. After exclusion of duplicates and screening of titles and abstracts 162 records remained. Of those 105 would have met the inclusion criteria but 36 records (34.3%) didn't assess any care recipient outcomes. Sixty nine studies (65.7%) reported on care recipient outcomes and were finally analyzed. The following assessments were used most in the main outcome dimensions: the Revised Memory and Behavior Problem Checklist and the Neuro-Psychiatric In- ventory for problem behaviors, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia for depressive symptoms, Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease for quality of life, the Mini Mental State Examination for cognition, and Lawton and Brody's Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale for activities of daily living. In dementia caregiver studies care recipient outcomes should more often be assessed. For a better comparability between interventions and target groups more homogeneity of the instruments is necessary. Instruments that are not specifically developed for cognitively impaired persons should only be used if they have been validated for persons with a comparable cognitive status.