Psychological well-being of spousal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease and associated factors

Raivio, Minna; Laakkonen, Marja‐Liisa; Pitkälä, Kaisu H.

doi:10.1016/j.eurger.2014.08.006

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Irritability can also cause considerable stress when the patient refuses treatment, food, being bathed or groomed, and travelling away from home, as it generates a sense of failure and powerlessness in the caregiver . Additionally, depression can cause ‘emotional contagion’ in people who live in close contact with a patient as well as a sense of failure and frustration . In contrast with other results, we found that cognitive level is a significant predictor of caregiver burden, although it is less important than the presence of BPSD.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 88%

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Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia may predict caregiver burden: a Sicilian exploratory study

et al. 2016

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 88%

“…No association was found between the CBI scores and the gender of familial caregivers, as also indicated by a previous study . However, others findings revealed that female caregivers suffer from higher levels of stress than male caregivers …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia may predict caregiver burden: a Sicilian exploratory study

et al. 2016

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“…and Raivio et al. showed that depression could cause “emotional contagion” to the caregiver, which can also increase caregiver burden . In the present study, the effect of non‐pharmacological intervention on reducing care burden was independent of depressive symptom scoring.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Predictors of non‐pharmacological intervention effect on cognitive function and behavioral and psychological symptoms of older people with dementia

Hsu

Tsai

Hwang

et al. 2017

Geriatrics Gerontology Int

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Aim: Our previous work showed that non-pharmacological interventions could effectively reduce the severity of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), while the factors influencing the effect of intervention were less explored. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the predictors of the non-pharmacological intervention effect for old veterans with dementia and BPSD.Methods: A total of 141 old veterans with dementia living in two veterans' homes in northern Taiwan were recruited. The participants received an organized non-pharmacological intervention program of physical activity/exercise, music therapy, reality orientation, art therapy, reminiscence therapy and horticultural therapy once every week for 6 months. All participants were evaluated by the Barthel Index, Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI), and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia before and after the intervention. Logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with improvement/maintenance of cognition (measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination), and improvement of BPSD (measured by NPI) and its subdomains during the intervention period.Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the improvement/maintenance of cognitive function was independently associated with a lower Mini-Mental State Examination score at baseline (odds ratio [OR] 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.97, P = 0.008), whereas participants with antipsychotic use were less likely to gain the effect (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.17-1.04, P = 0.061). In addition, the improvement of BPSD was associated with a higher baseline total NPI score (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.15-1.55, P < 0.001), and the result was consistent in different NPI subdomains (psychotic domain: OR 1.96, 95% CI 0.83-4.58, P = 0.123; affective domain: OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.25-2.13, P < 0.001; behavior domain: OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.53-3.30, P < 0.001) and caregiver burden (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.24-2.14, P < 0.001). In addition, a higher Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia score was correlated with an improvement in the NPI behavior domain (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.01-2.18, P = 0.047), whereas participants with hearing impairment had a lower chance of improvement in the NPI behavior domain (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-1.23, P = 0.073) and care burden (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.03-0.99, P = 0.050).Conclusions: Our findings show that non-pharmacological intervention programs have a significant effect on reducing overall NPI score, NPI caregiver burden score and NPI subdomains -psychotic, affective and behavior syndrome -in old veterans with dementia. In addition, participants with lower cognitive performance, more severe BPSD and depressive symptoms at baseline were more likely to gain benefit from the intervention, whereas antipsychotic use and hearing impairment were negative predictors of improvement of cognition and BPSD, respectively. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017: 17 (Suppl. 1): 28-35.Keywords: behavioral and ...

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“…The inability to draw these different threads of the same overarching theme of seeking more opportunities to enjoy life outside of caregiving leads to loneliness and isolation for many of these carers. Previous studies have demonstrated that isolation is associated with lower levels of well-being in this population (Raivio, Laakkonen, & Pitkala, 2015), that older spousal carers experience more loneliness (Lavela & Ather, 2010) and lonely older carers exhibit more depressive symptoms over time than those who do not feel lonely (Jaremka et al., 2014). A large study carried out in Sweden further demonstrated that high levels of loneliness are associated with lower QoL in older carers (Ekwall, Sivberg, & Hallberg, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What would most help improve the quality of life of older family carers of people with dementia? A qualitative study of carers’ views

2018

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Older family carers of people with dementia provide a substantial amount of care for people with dementia in the UK. Caregiving can be stressful and burdensome for these individuals, who are also experiencing psychological and physical changes resulting from their own ageing process. However, little is known about what impacts their quality of life, how this can be improved and what we should prioritise. This brief report asks one simple question to older family carers of people living with dementia - "What would most help improve your quality of life as a carer?" Qualitative data were collected from 150 carers who completed an anonymous paper survey during the development and validation of a quality of life tool for use with this population (DQoL-OC). Participants were individuals aged 60 and over and were providing care for a family member with dementia at home in the UK. Carers were recruited from a variety of voluntary organizations, community-based carers' groups, health services and via online forums. A thematic approach was used to analyse the carers' comments and three main overarching themes were identified. The quality of life of older family carers can be enhanced by having more time away from caregiving, accessing health and social services that are dementia friendly and by having economic support. Future care, policies and research should aim to address these key areas in order to promote better quality of life for older carers of people with dementia. Further implications for practice, policy and research are discussed.

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Psychological well-being of spousal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease and associated factors

Cited by 13 publications

References 26 publications

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia may predict caregiver burden: a Sicilian exploratory study

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia may predict caregiver burden: a Sicilian exploratory study

Predictors of non‐pharmacological intervention effect on cognitive function and behavioral and psychological symptoms of older people with dementia

What would most help improve the quality of life of older family carers of people with dementia? A qualitative study of carers’ views

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