Neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver’s burden in Colombian relatives of people with dementia

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundNeuropsychiatric symptoms are part of the psychopathological dimension of dementias. From a psychosocial approach, the direct and indirect costs of the disease increase, generating a greater demand to the caregiver. We aim to show the relationship between neuropsychiatric symptoms and the caregiver’s burden in a group of 100 caregivers of patients with a dementia diagnosis.MethodSample of 51 caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 49 with Fronto‐Temporal Dementia (FTD). Caregivers were patient’s relatives, mean age 58 y.o. and most of them had a college degree. To patients, we applied The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Additionally, we implemented the Zarit caregiver burden test to the caregivers.ResultCategorized three groups of caregivers: without burden (n = 42), mild burden (n = 25), and severe burden (n = 33). There were not statistical differences between caregiver’s age (p = .067), schooling (p = .429), nor how long they were caring for the patient (p = .057). Nonetheless, there’s higher burden scores when they have more economic difficulties (p<.05), more psychosomatic symptoms (p<.05), even when implementing strategies to handle stress (p<.05). Also, the burden is present the more neuropsychiatric symptoms the patients have (p<.05). Age (Beta = .021; p = .934) is not associated with burden level, however, scholarship (Beta = ‐.679; p<.05) and neuropsychiatric symptoms (Beta = 1.141; p<.001) are significantly associated.ConclusionSociodemographic caregiver’s characteristics and the symptom’s severity of the patients may establish a risk profile for caregivers. The study shows the importance of the development of support programs for caregivers.Shin, I. S., Carter, M., Masterman, D., Fairbanks, L., & Cummings, J. L. (2005). Neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life in Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry, 13(6), 469‐474.Hiu, S. K. W., Bigirumurame, T., Kunonga, P., Bryant, A., & Pillai, M. (2022). Neuropsychiatric Inventory domains cluster into neuropsychiatric syndromes in Alzheimer’s disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Brain and Behavior, 12(9), e2734.Monfort, J. C., Lezy, A. M., Papin, A., & Du Montcel, S. T. (2020). Psychogeriatric Inventory of Disconcerting Symptoms and Syndromes (PGI‐DSS): validity and reliability of a new brief scale compared to the Neuropsychiatric Inventory for Nursing Homes (NPI‐NH). International psychogeriatrics, 32(9), 1085‐1095.