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
. 2014 May 1:14:413.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-413.

Mental health and wellbeing in spouses of persons with dementia: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study

Helga Ask  1 , Ellen Melbye Langballe, Jostein Holmen, Geir Selbæk, Ingvild Saltvedt, Kristian Tambs
Affiliations

Mental health and wellbeing in spouses of persons with dementia: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study

Helga Ask et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Caring for a spouse diagnosed with dementia can be a stressful situation and can put the caregiving partner at risk of loss of mental health and wellbeing. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dementia and spousal mental health in a population-based sample of married couples older than 55 years of age. The association was investigated for individuals living together with their demented partner, as well as for individuals whose demented partner was living in an institution.

Methods: Data on dementia were collected from hospitals and nursing homes in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. These data were combined with data on spousal mental health, which were collected in a population-based health screening: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). Of 6,951 participating couples (>55 years), 131 included one partner that had been diagnosed with dementia.

Results: Our results indicate that after adjustment for covariates, having a partner with dementia is associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and more symptoms of anxiety and depression than reported by spouses of elderly individuals without dementia. Spouses living together with a partner diagnosed with dementia experienced moderately lower levels of life satisfaction (0.35 standard deviation [SD]) and more symptoms of depression (0.38 SD) and anxiety (0.23 SD) than did their non-caregiving counterparts. Having a partner with dementia that resided in a nursing home was associated with clearly lower life satisfaction. Compared with non-caregivers, these spouses reported lower levels of life satisfaction (1.16 SD), and also more symptoms of depression (0.38 SD), and more symptoms of anxiety (0.42 SD).

Conclusions: Having a partner with dementia is associated with loss of mental health and reduced life satisfaction. The risk of adverse mental health outcomes is greatest after the partner's nursing home admission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Visualizing the composition of the study sample.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. 2012. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs362/en/index.html.
    1. Ballard CG, Eastwood C, Gahir M, Wilcock G. A follow up study of depression in the carers of dementia sufferers. BMJ. 1996;312:947. doi: 10.1136/bmj.312.7036.947. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Clark MC, Diamond PM. Depression in family caregivers of elders: a theoretical model of caregiver burden, sociotropy, and autonomy. Res Nurs Health. 2010;33:20–34. - PubMed
    1. Coope B, Ballard C, Saad K, Patel A, Bentham P, Bannister C. The prevalence of depression in the carers of dementia sufferers. Int J of Geriatric Psychiatry. 1995;10:237–242. doi: 10.1002/gps.930100310. - DOI
    1. Cooper C, Balamurali TBS, Livingston G. A systematic review of the prevalence and covariates of anxiety in caregivers of people with dementia. Int Psychogeriatr. 2007;19:175–195. doi: 10.1017/S1041610206004297. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms