Alzheimer’s caregiver burden and psychological distress. A neglected association in the assessment of dementias

Abstract

Introduction. Caregivers of dementia patients have a high risk of developing mental disorders. Nevertheless, their burden is not routinely assessed during the clinical assessment of the Alzheimer’s type dementia patients. This study was designed to evaluate the association between caregiver’s burden and psychological distress and to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders among the caregivers.

Methods. Cross-sectional study of Alzheimer patients’ caregivers (n = 40). The caregiver burden was assessed by the Zarit scale whereas the GHQ-28 was used to evaluate psychological distress.

Results. The Zarit caregiver burden scale was able to discriminate the psychic distress levels (area under the curve: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.77 – 0.98). Its sensitivity (93%; 95% CI: 68.0 – 99.8) and specificity (80%; 95% CI: 59.3 – 93.2) were good for a cut-off point of 62/63. The estimated prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the caregivers was 20.7% (95% CI: 0.0 – 60.0%).

Conclusion. The Zarit caregiver burden scale is useful for assessing psychological distress and should be included in any clinical protocol devised to evaluate the needs of patients with dementia.