Depression in People With Dementia and Caregiver Outcomes: Results From the European Right Time Place Care Study

Factors influencing the psychosocial well-being of people with dementia and their informal caregivers: A systematic review of dyadic studies

Individuals with dementia and their informal caregivers face significant challenges to their psychosocial well-being, necessitating immediate attention. In spite of the prevalence of this problem, there is limited data regarding the factors that influence the dyadic psychosocial well-being and potential actor-partner influencing mechanisms. Therefore, this review was conducted to synthesise the factors associated with the psychosocial well-being of people with dementia and their informal caregivers. MEDLINE via EBSCOhost, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase and Scopus were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method studies examining the factors influencing dyadic psychosocial well-being outcomes were included. The quality of included studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal checklists. A narrative synthesis approach was employed for data analysis. A total of 3217 records were yield, out of which 26 studies were included in the analysis. Quality of life emerged as the most extensively investigated dyadic psychosocial well-being outcome, followed by depression. The interrelation between the quality of life for people with dementia and caregivers was observed, where individual members' quality of life was influenced by their own, partner and dyadic factors. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the mechanisms through which one member's factors exert influence on both their own and partner's quality of life within the dyad. This gap also exists for other psychosocial well-being outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. Further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms through which dyadic members influence their own and their partner's psychosocial well-being.

Prevalence, treatment, and neural correlates of apathy in different forms of dementia: a narrative review

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this review is to provide an overview on prevalence and clinical tools for the diagnosis of apathy, as well as on neurophysiological and neuroimaging findings obtained from studies in patients with apathy in different forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular (VaD) and mixed dementia, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD).

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, controlled before-after studies, and interrupted time series from four databases (WebOfScience, Scopus, Pubmed, and PsycINFO) addressing apathy in adults or older people aged over 65 years of age affected by dementia were included.

RESULTS

The prevalence of apathy was 26-82% for AD, 28.6-91.7 for VaD, 29-97.5% in PDD, and 54.8-88.0 in FTD. The assessment of apathy was not consistent in the reviewed studies. Methylphenidate was the most successful pharmacological treatment for apathy. Neurobiological studies highlighted the relationship between both structural and functional brain areas and the presence or severity of apathy.

CONCLUSION

Apathy is a very common disorder in all types of dementia, although it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Further studies are needed to investigate its diagnosis and management. A consensus on the different evaluation scales should be achieved.

Clinical profile of trazodone users in a multisetting older population: data from the Italian GeroCovid Observational study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Depression is highly prevalent in older adults, especially in those with dementia. Trazodone, an antidepressant, has shown to be effective in older patients with moderate anxiolytic and hypnotic activity; and a common off-label use is rising for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). The aim of the study is to comparatively assess the clinical profiles of older patients treated with trazodone or other antidepressants.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study involved adults aged ≥ 60 years at risk of or affected with COVID-19 enrolled in the GeroCovid Observational study from acute wards, geriatric and dementia-specific outpatient clinics, as well as long-term care facilities (LTCF). Participants were grouped according to the use of trazodone, other antidepressants, or no antidepressant use.

RESULTS

Of the 3396 study participants (mean age 80.6 ± 9.1 years; 57.1% females), 10.8% used trazodone and 8.5% others antidepressants. Individuals treated with trazodone were older, more functionally dependent, and had a higher prevalence of dementia and BPSD than those using other antidepressants or no antidepressant use. Logistic regression analyses found that the presence of BPSD was associated with trazodone use (odds ratio (OR) 28.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 18-44.7 for the outcome trazodone vs no antidepressants use, among participants without depression; OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.05-4.49 for the outcome trazodone vs no antidepressants use, among participants with depression). A cluster analysis of trazodone use identified three clusters: cluster 1 included mainly women, living at home with assistance, multimorbidity, dementia, BPSD, and depression; cluster 2 included mainly institutionalized women, with disabilities, depression, and dementia; cluster 3 included mostly men, often living at home unassisted, with better mobility performance, fewer chronic diseases, dementia, BPSD, and depression.

DISCUSSION

The use of trazodone was highly prevalent in functionally dependent and comorbid older adults admitted to LTCF or living at home. Clinical conditions associated with its prescription included depression as well as BPSD.

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and Caregiver Burden

Introduction/Objectives

In addition to cognitive decline, one of the most important problems for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's is neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS). This study aimed to evaluate the NPS in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and investigate its relationship with caregiver burden (CB).

Methods

In a cross-sectional study of 85 patients with AD referred to Shafa Hospital in Rasht and their caregivers in 2020, information was collected using a demographic questionnaire, Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). Data were analyzed by Spearman correlation, t-test, and linear regression, with SPSS version 22.

Results

The mean age of the patients and their caregivers were 74.95 ± 8.87 years and 43.98 ± 11.38 years, respectively. The mean total score of NPS in patients with AD was 44.25 (0–144) and the mean CB score was 36.27 (0–96), which was a moderate level. According to the results, 91% of patients had apathy, while happiness/euphoria was reported as the most uncommon symptom. In addition, there was a significant relationship between the score of NPS and CB (r = 0.542, P < 0.0001), as well as all its sub-components, time-dependence burden with more correlation (r = 0.509, P < 0.0001), and social burden with less correlation (r = 0.352, P < 0.001). NPS, hallucination, aberrant motor behavior (AMB), delusion, and depression were most correlated with CB. Also, the mean score of CB was significantly higher in women than in men (P = 0.045). Living in a rural area had a significant relationship with NPS score (P = 0.026). Also, linear regression showed that with increasing 1 year of patients' age, the mean score of patient's NPS decreased by 0.374 (P = 0.048).

Conclusion

Neuropsychiatric symptoms, especially hallucination, aberrant motor behavior (AMB), delusion, and depression were associated with caregiver burden. Apathy was the most common symptom in patients with AD.

Which factors increase informal care hours and societal costs among caregivers of people with dementia? A systematic review of Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD)

BACKGROUND

Nearly 19 million people across OECD countries are living with dementia, and millions of family caregivers are affected by the disease. The costs of informal care are estimated to represent 40-75% of the total dementia cost exceeding formal care time and medical costs.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review to evaluate the methodological quality and factors associated with high informal care hours per month that increase societal costs, and to identify what type of interventions may alleviate the entire burden of informal and formal caregiving.

METHODS

The systematic review was registered at PROSPERO (15.12.2020). A search in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and web of science for observational studies, cost-effectiveness, and cost of illness (COI) analyses on resource utilization in dementia (RUD) was conducted on 1 December 2020. Our inclusion criteria included a requirement that studies had to use the original RUD, RUD-FOCA or RUD lite in terms of hours or days per month, and costs as primary or secondary outcome, OECD countries, within the last 20 years and a sample population comprising persons with dementia (PwD) ≥65 years and their caregivers. We followed the PRISMA, GRADE, PICO guidelines and Drummond criteria to assess the methodology and quality of the studies.

RESULTS

Of 307 studies, 26 cross-sectional and 3 longitudinal cohort studies were included in the analyses. Two studies had a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. The methods and cost categories in each study varied widely. Disease severity, caregiver factors, and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were associated with high informal care hours and societal cost. One RCT found no effect of a non-pharmacological intervention on informal care hours, yet another RCT found a cost-effective impact of an in-home respite care programme reducing informal care burden and costs.

CONCLUSION

The divergent use of the RUD components within included studies encourage more harmonized analyses. There are only two RCTs on RUD, one of which shows a significant treatment effect. Larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are required in future RCTs with dedicated focus on cost-enhancing and resource intensive factors such as disease severity and BPSD. Novel interventions must diversify between caregiver and PwD groups.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION

CRD42021226388 .