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. 2019 Oct;34(10):1378-1385.
doi: 10.1002/gps.5126. Epub 2019 May 8.

Determinants of self- and carer-rated quality of life and caregiver burden in Alzheimer disease

Christin Schumann  1 , Panagiotis Alexopoulos  2   3 , Robert Perneczky  1   4   5   6
Affiliations

Determinants of self- and carer-rated quality of life and caregiver burden in Alzheimer disease

Christin Schumann et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate factors associated with self- and carer-rated quality of life (QoL) and caregiver burden related to very mild to severe clinical Alzheimer disease (AD).

Methods: One hundred patient-carer dyads were recruited, and assessments of relevant outcomes were performed, including sociodemographic characteristics, QoL, activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive performance, behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), caregiver burden, and health resource utilisation.

Results: There was a strong correlation between carer- and self-rated QoL, with patients consistently rating their QoL higher than caregivers. Duration of illness did not affect the QoL ratings. There was an inverse association between both self- and carer-rated QoL with age, age at symptom onset, impairment of ADL, time spent on assisting the patient, and depression. Both self- and carer-rated QoL ratings were higher if the caregiver was a spouse vs a child. Carer-rated QoL was inversely associated with severity of dementia, BPSD, caregiver burden, and requirement to supervise the patient. The variables age at symptom onset, ADL, and living together with the primary caregiver explained 34.50% of the variance in self-rated QoL, whereas age at symptom onset, ADL, and BPSD explained 48.20% of the variance in carer-rated QoL. For caregiver burden, 26% of the variance was explained by the variables ADL, living together with the primary caregiver, and agitation.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the need for a stronger focus on QoL in clinical AD research by providing further pieces of evidence on the key determinants, including the important aspect of caregiver burden.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease; behavioural and psychological symptoms; caregiver burden; dementia; quality of life.

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References

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