Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Jan-Mar;29(1):70-4.
doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000047.

Why are spousal caregivers more prevalent than nonspousal caregivers as study partners in AD dementia clinical trials?

Mark S Cary  1 , Jonathan D Rubright, Joshua D Grill, Jason Karlawish
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Why are spousal caregivers more prevalent than nonspousal caregivers as study partners in AD dementia clinical trials?

Mark S Cary et al. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2015 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Most Alzheimer disease (AD) caregivers are not spouses and yet most AD dementia trials enroll spousal study partners. This study examines the association between caregiver relationship to the patient and willingness to enroll in an AD clinical trial and how caregiver burden and research attitudes modify willingness.

Design: Interviews with 103 AD caregivers who met criteria for ability to serve as a study partner.

Results: A total of 54% of caregivers were spouses or domestic partners and the remaining were adult children. Willingness to enroll a patient in a clinical trial was associated with being a spouse [odds ratio (OR)=2.53, P=0.01], increasing age (OR=1.39, P=0.01), and increasing scores on the Research Attitudes Questionnaire (OR=1.39, P<0.001). No measures of caregiver burden or patient health were significant predictors of willingness. In multivariate models both research attitudes (OR=1.37, P<0.001) and being a spouse, as opposed to an adult child, (OR=2.06, P=0.048) were independently associated with willingness to participate.

Conclusions: Spousal caregivers had both a higher willingness to participate and a more positive attitude toward research. Caregiver burden had no association with willingness to participate. The strongest predictor of willingness was research attitudes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

For the remaining authors none were declared.

References

    1. Grill JD, Karlawish J. Addressing the challenges to successful recruitment and retention in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. Alz Res Ther. 2010;2:34. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Haidich AB, Ioannidis JP. Effect of early patient enrollment on the time to completion and publication of randomized controlled trials. Am J Epidemiol. 2001;154:873–880. - PubMed
    1. Halpern SD, Karlawish JH, Berlin JA. The continuing unethical conduct of underpowered clinical trials. JAMA. 2002;288:358–362. - PubMed
    1. Karlawish JHT, Casarett D, Klocinksi J, et al. How do AD patients and their caregivers decide whether to enroll in a clinical trial? Neurology. 2001;56:789–792. - PubMed
    1. Karlawish JH, Casarett DJ, James BD. Alzheimer’s disease patients’ and caregivers’ capacity, competency, and reasons to enroll in an early-phase Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:2019–2024. - PubMed

Publication types