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
. 2016 Oct 14;113(41):681-687.
doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2016.0681.

Supporting Families Living With Dementia in Rural Areas

Thomas Brijoux  1 , Cornelia Kricheldorff, Michael H Ll, Steffi Bonfico
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Supporting Families Living With Dementia in Rural Areas

Thomas Brijoux et al. Dtsch Arztebl Int. .

Abstract

Background: Family members caring for persons with dementia are subject to multiple types of stress. Psychosocial help is recommended to lighten the emotional burden of care and can be of use in stabilizing the home-care situation. In this study conducted in rural areas in Germany, we tested whether volunteers with a special qualification for the assistance of families caring for dementia patients can support family members more effectively than conventional care companions.

Methods: In a randomized, controlled trial, 63 family members caring for persons with dementia were aided by specially qualified family companions (experimental intervention) or by conventional care companions (control intervention). The family members' quality of life was the primary endpoint and was evaluated at the end of the study in an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis with t-tests. In an additional per-protocol (PP) analysis, differences that arose between groups at the outset of the study were accounted for. Secondary endpoints included reduced stress and better integration into the support system.

Results: The ITT analysis revealed no differences between groups in healthrelated quality of life on either the emotional or the somatic scale. The PP analysis, however, showed that the experimental intervention improved the emotional health-related quality of life of the patients' family members compared to the control group. The effect strength was intermediate (d = 0.57; p = 0.047).

Conclusion: The difference between the findings of the PP and ITT analyses may be explained in part by the different distribution of severity of dementia in the two groups (experimental and control).

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Recruitment and dropouts
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mental health scale of the 12-Item Short Form Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals of the means from the „per protocol“ (PP) population (pre- and post-data). Higher values reflect higher mental health–related quality-of-life. FS, family support; CS, caregiver support; n, number.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pinquart M, Sörensen S. Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: a meta-analysis. Psychol Aging. 2003;18:250–267. - PubMed
    1. Matter C. Angehörige von Demenzkranken. In: Mahlberg R, Gutzmann H: Demenzerkrankungen erkennen, behandeln, versorgen. Köln: Deutscher Ärzteverlag. 2009:222–231.
    1. Stoppe G. Demenz München. Rheinhardt Verlag. 2007
    1. Engel S. Trias Verlag. Stuttgart: 2012. Alzheimer & Demenzen Die Methode der einfühlsamen Kommunikation.
    1. Gutzmann H, Zank S. Kohlhammer Verlag. Stuttgart: 2005. Demenzielle Erkrankungen Medizinische und psychosoziale Interventionen.

Publication types