Association Between Caregivers' Burden and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Female Patients with Alzheimer's Disease with Varying Dementia Severity

Purpose

This study examined the attributes causing higher burdens for caregivers caring for female patients with Alzheimer’s disease by analyzing a combination of various variables, including demographic data, dementia severity, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Patients and Methods

This study included 99 female patients with Alzheimer’s disease who were cared for by the dementia collaborative care team at Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan. Neuropsychiatric symptoms used in this study included affections (9 types), behavior symptoms (9 symptoms), and psychological symptoms (3 symptoms). The Apriori algorithm was employed to identify association rules that reveal the relationships among demographic data, dementia severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and caregivers’ burden.

Results

A total of 185 rules were determined, including 51 rules with little or no burden, 108 rules with mild to moderate burden, and 26 rules with moderate to severe burden. The major findings are as follows. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with varying degrees of caregivers’ burden among female patients aged 75 to 84 years with mild dementia. Crying spells and aggression were specifically associated with a moderate to severe burden. Delusion was associated with a mild to moderate and moderate to severe burden. Dysthymia and depression were associated with little or no burden to moderate to severe burden.

Conclusion

Clinicians can provide early interventions to reduce the burden of caregivers caring for female patients with Alzheimer’s disease and can refer caregivers for timely assistance to reduce their burden.