The COVID‐19 pandemic on Patients With Dementia and Family Caregivers‐report from the Memory clinic

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe aim of the present study was to examine cognitive‐behavioral changes that may be related to the lockdown and the quarantine during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Serbian patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer dementia (AD). The caregivers’ distress was also evaluated.MethodThe 2089 registered patients with cognitive deficits, between December 2018 until January 2020 in Belgrade Memory clinic registry, University Clinical Center was contacted by telephone within the survey, 2 months after the lockdown declaration. Either the patients or their caregivers were asked to answer on: Caregiver Questionnaire, the Kingston Caregiver Stress Scale, Patient Questionnaire, Neuropsychiatric Questionnaire, and Clinical Dementia rating scale for caregiver and patients.ResultThe study included 1002 (females 56.%) patients either with AD (n = 389) or MCI (n = 604) who have got completed data set for analyses. Unfortunately, 74 patients died in the pandemic time, and 225 subjects rejected to participate, and the rest were not reached due to wrong phone number, or missed contact record. Caregivers reported a worsening in cognitive functions in 55.1% of AD patients, and increased neuropsychiatric symptoms were reported in 59.8% as worsening of preexisting symptoms (41.9%) or as new onset (21%). The most common were depression, apathy, sleep disorders and anxiety. The prevalence of these symptoms was the same as before the pandemic, but there was a change in their frequency and intensity. Approximately 15.9% of patients with MCI showed the onset of new behavioral symptoms, sleep disorder and anxiety were the predominant new symptoms. The transition from MCI to dementia was recorded in 24%. Due to increased patients’ neuropsychiatric burden stress‐related symptoms were experienced by two‐thirds of caregivers.ConclusionPandemic quarantine induces a significant increase of neuropsychiatric symptoms in approximately half of patients and stress‐related symptoms in two‐thirds of caregivers. Health services need to plan a post‐pandemic strategy in order to address these emerging needs.