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Caregiver burden in mobile and non‐mobile demented patients: a comparative study
Author(s) -
Miyamoto Yuki,
Ito Hiroto,
Otsuka Toshio,
Kurita Hiroshi
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.694
Subject(s) - caregiver burden , dementia , psychological intervention , medicine , gerontology , psychology , psychiatry , disease , pathology
Objectives To identify the impact of behavior disturbances on subjective burden of caregivers in demented patients attending day care services. Methods Subjects were 379 primary caregivers of randomly sampled demented patients living at home, who attended geriatric day care programs. The caregiver burden of the mobile and non‐mobile demented patients were measured using the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI). The Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Personal Self‐Maintenance Scale (PSMS) were used to assess the patients' condition. The Troublesome Behavior Scale (TBS), originally developed in Japan, was used to assess the frequency of behavior disturbances exhibited by patients. Results The caregivers of the mobile demented patients reported greater caregiver burden compared to those of the non‐mobile demented patients. The frequency of behavior disturbance was significantly higher in the mobile patients than the non‐mobile patients. For the mobile patient caregivers, wandering, interfering, aggression and repetition were the predictors of caregiver burden. For the non‐mobile patient caregivers, ‘repeating same questions and/or clinging’ was the only predictor of caregiver burden. Conclusion The caregivers of the mobile demented patients reported higher burden due to the patients' behavior disturbance compared to those of the non‐mobile patients. These findings indicate a need for further development of interventions to prevent behavior disturbances that are especially burdensome for caregivers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.