Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA.
Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2009 Sep;15(8):554-7. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2009.01.007. Epub 2009 Feb 28.
This study examined loneliness among caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). The sample included 70 caregivers (74% female; 96% spouses) who were currently living with the patient. A postal survey was sent to caregivers of persons with PD on the mailing list of a regional Parkinson association; response rate was 39%. Assessment instruments included the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Social Provisions Scale, Hoehn and Yahr (caregiver version), a perceived Self-Efficacy Scale developed previously for use with PD caregivers, and questions related to both patient and caregiver characteristics. Caregivers reported more loneliness than all similar normative groups except Alzheimer caregivers (P<0.001 to P=0.011). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to determine whether patient or caregiver characteristics were more predictive of loneliness. Results indicated that patient variables accounted for only 12% of the variance in loneliness, whereas caregiver variables accounted for an additional 46% of the variance (P<0.01). Among the significant individual caregiver predictors of greater loneliness were less education, lower perceived self-efficacy (both P<0.05) and poorer physical health (P<0.01). It was also found that persons attending caregiver support groups reported less loneliness (P<0.05) and more perceived support (P<0.05) than those not attending support groups. Because loneliness was significantly predicted by caregiver rather than patient variables, it is possible that strategic interventions for caregivers could ameliorate loneliness.
本研究调查了帕金森病（PD）患者照顾者的孤独感。样本包括 70 名照顾者（74%为女性；96%为配偶），他们目前与患者同住。一项邮寄调查被发送给了地区帕金森协会邮寄名单上的 PD 患者的照顾者，回应率为 39%。评估工具包括加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独感量表、社会支持量表、Hoehn 和 Yahr（照顾者版本）、先前为 PD 照顾者开发的感知自我效能量表，以及与患者和照顾者特征相关的问题。照顾者报告的孤独感比所有类似的正常群体都多，除了阿尔茨海默病照顾者（P<0.001 至 P=0.011）。分层回归分析用于确定患者或照顾者特征对孤独感的预测能力。结果表明，患者变量仅占孤独感方差的 12%，而照顾者变量占额外的 46%（P<0.01）。在导致孤独感更强的显著个体照顾者预测因素中，包括教育程度较低、感知自我效能较低（均为 P<0.05）和身体健康状况较差（P<0.01）。还发现，参加照顾者支持小组的人报告的孤独感较低（P<0.05），感知到的支持更多（P<0.05），而不参加支持小组的人则较少。由于孤独感是由照顾者而不是患者变量显著预测的，因此，对照顾者进行战略干预可能会改善孤独感。
