The psychological and physical health of family members caring for an elderly person with dementia

Baumgarten, Mona; Battista, Renaldo N.; Infante‐Rivard, Claire; Hanley, James A.; Becker, Rubin; Gauthier, Serge

doi:10.1016/0895-4356(92)90189-t

Cited by 353 publications

(249 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Likewise, our findings are supported by authors 25 that also established the connection between physical complaints and health perception among elder inpatients. In addition, the high prevalence of pain syndrome among caregivers in our sample agrees with Baumgarten's et al 26 findings who have reported a significantly higher level of physical symptoms in dementia caregivers, especially pain complaints, when compared with non-caregivers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Health self-perception by dementia family caregivers: sociodemographic and clinical factors

Valente

Truzzi

Souza³

et al. 2011

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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Caring for a demented family member has been associated with burden. Studies concerning health self-perception of family caregivers are still scarce. Objective: To investigate caregivers perceived health and to look into relationships with patients and caregivers' sociodemographic and clinical data. Method: Dyads of dementia outpatients and family caregivers (n=137) were assessed with Mini Mental State Examination, Functional Activities Questionnaire, Neuropsychiatric Inventory and Clinical Dementia Rating. Caregivers answered Sociodemographic Questionnaire, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, Zarit Burden Interview and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results: Caregivers poor perceived health was associated with emotional exhaustion, burden, depression and anxiety. Logistic regression analyses revealed caregivers' age, anxiety and physical problem as the main predictors of health self-perception. Conclusion: Aged family caregivers with anxiety who also report physical problem characterize a group at risk for poor self-perceived health. Evaluation of health self-perception may be useful for designing interventions to improve anxiety and physical health. Key words: dementia family caregiver, dementia, health self-perception, age, anxiety.Autopercepção de saúde em cuidadores familiares de pacientes com demência: fatores sociodemográficos e clínicos RESUMO Cuidar de familiar com demência tem sido associado a sobrecarga. Estudos sobre autopercepção de saúde em cuidadores ainda são escassos. Objetivo: Investigar autopercepção de saúde em cuidadores e relação entre dados sociodemográficos e clínicos de cuidadores e pacientes. Método: Díades de pacientes demenciados e cuidadores familiares (n=137) foram avaliados pelo Mini Exame do Estado Mental,

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Health self-perception by dementia family caregivers: sociodemographic and clinical factors

Valente

Truzzi

Souza³

et al. 2011

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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“…Specifically, while mean levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms were lower than the typical levels observed in dementia caregivers (e.g. CES-D scores from 14 to 16, Schulz et al, 1990;Baumgarten et al, 1992;Schulz et al, 1995;Wijeratne, 1997), they were only slightly higher than levels seen in healthy non-caregiving elderly cohorts (e.g. CES-D scores from 7.4 to 9.4, Blazer et al, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Caregiving burden and psychiatric morbidity in spouses of persons with mild cognitive impairment

Garand

Dew

Eazor

et al. 2005

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

147

122

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SUMMARYBackground-While the deleterious psychosocial and mental health effects of dementia caregiving are firmly established, very little is known about the burdens or psychiatric outcomes of providing care to a spouse with less severe cognitive impairment, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We characterized the nature and level of caregiver burden and psychiatric morbidity in spouses of persons diagnosed with MCI.

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“…This can be due to different reasons: social and gender issues make them more likely to assume a fuller role as a caregiver; moreover, women tend to spend more time with the patient which leads them to feel more burdened; -caregiver's age; several studies [4,10] recognize the age of the family member in charge of the patient as a risk factor for distress: in particular, caregivers over 70 years of age are more likely to experience stress than younger ones. Such vulnerability could be explained both by difficulties in assuming such a demanding role and by the caregiver's own physical and psychological problems; -caregiver's physical and mental health status; some studies pointed out that a poor physical and mental health status can put caregivers at risk for stress and depressive symptoms [9][10][11][12][13][14]; -caregiver's employment status: higher levels of stress and suffering have been found in unemployed caregivers [15]; -familial relationship between patient and caregiver; several studies [11,15] suggest that spouses and sons/daughters are more likely to undertake the role of caregivers, and that this inevitably leads to a higher risk for stress. Rinaldi et al [4] showed that female spouses complain more about their role as caregivers and, together with sons/daughters, are most exposed to distress and suffering.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The burden of distress in caregivers of elderly demented patients and its relationship with coping strategies

et al. 2008

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Objective: Previous studies have shown that taking care of elderly, demented patients carries a high cost to caregivers' health, and is associated with negative consequences on physical and mental health. The aim of this study is to investigate which socio-demographic and clinical variables are significantly associated with higher levels of distress in caregivers, and the relationship between caregivers' levels of distress and the coping strategies they adopt. Patients and participants: The study samples 112 caregivers of demented patients, consecutively admitted to the Department of Neurology of San Raffaele-Turro Hospital (Milan, Italy). Measurements and results:Caregivers were asked to complete the CBI and the Italian version of the COPE.The main result is that caregivers with the highest levels of distress are characterised by an impaired physical health status. It was also found that avoidance coping may represent a risk factor associated with higher levels of distress; conversely, an active and problem-focused approach to stressful situations may act as a protective factor.Keywords: Dementia, Caregiver, Burden of Illness, Coping Behavior 3 Riassunto Obiettivo: In letteratura è documentato che prendersi cura di un anziano affetto da demenza comporta per il caregiver un prezzo molto elevato da pagare, e si associa a conseguenze negative sul piano della salute fisica e psichica. Obiettivo della presente ricerca è stato quello di valutare quali variabili socio-demografiche e cliniche possano essere significativamente associate ad elevati livelli di stress nel caregiver stesso, e la relazione esistente tra i livelli di stress del caregiver e il ricorso alle strategie di coping. Pazienti e partecipanti: Lo studio ha coinvolto 112 caregiver di altrettanti pazienti dementi consecutivamente ammessi presso il Reparto di Neurologia dell'Ospedale San Raffaele Turro di Milano. Risultati: I caregiver hanno compilato il CBI e la versione italiana del COPE. I risultati indicano che i caregiver soggetti ad elevati livelli di stress si caratterizzano per uno stato compromesso di salute fisica. Uno stile di coping centrato sull'evitamento delle situazioni problematiche può costituire un fattore di rischio per elevati livelli di stress nel caregiver; il ricorso a strategie attive focalizzate sulla risoluzione del problema può configurarsi come fattore protettivo. 4 IntroductionThere is ample evidence that taking care of dependent elderly people comes at a very high cost to caregivers' health; more specifically, caregiving affects their physical and psychological health both directly and indirectly [1,2].In Italy, family members are the principal caregivers to elderly, non self-sufficient people. Caregivers are mostly spouses or daughters who decided to take care of the patients in a direct way, that is by living with them [3]. On average, three quarters of their daytime is spent responding to the patients' needs; the amount of time devoted to the patient is inexorably destined to increase as the illness worsens [1].Pr...

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The psychological and physical health of family members caring for an elderly person with dementia

Cited by 353 publications

References 91 publications

Health self-perception by dementia family caregivers: sociodemographic and clinical factors

Health self-perception by dementia family caregivers: sociodemographic and clinical factors

Caregiving burden and psychiatric morbidity in spouses of persons with mild cognitive impairment

The burden of distress in caregivers of elderly demented patients and its relationship with coping strategies

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