Caregiver burden associated with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in elderly people in the local community.

BACKGROUND

Despite many studies about the association between caregiver burden and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), there have been no population-based studies to evaluate caregiver burden associated with each BPSD.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate caregiver burden associated with the individual BPSD in elderly people living in the community.

METHODS

The subjects were 67 participants with dementia living with their caregivers (diagnosed in the third Nakayama study): 51 Alzheimer's disease, 5 vascular dementia and 11 other. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and NPI Caregiver Distress Scale (NPI-D) were used to assess subjects' BPSD and related caregiver distress, respectively.

RESULTS

In the subjects exhibiting BPSD, aberrant motor behavior had the highest mean NPI score, and depression/dysphoria had the lowest. Agitation/aggression had the highest mean NPI-D score, and euphoria/elation had the lowest. Delusion, agitation/aggression, apathy/indifference, irritability/lability and aberrant motor behavior showed a correlation between the NPI and NPI-D scores.

CONCLUSION

The burden associated with BPSD is different for each symptom and does not always depend on frequency and severity of BPSD. These findings suggest that some symptoms, such as agitation/aggression and irritability/lability, may affect the caregivers significantly, although their frequency and severity are low.