Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Psychol Health Med. 2010 Dec;15(6):685-93. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2010.507773.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons. The burden for ALS caregivers is quite high. There are still few studies that have investigated the emotional impact of ALS care. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 40 ALS caregivers, assessing general worries, burden of care, depression, anxiety, perception of social support, and patients' severity of disease. Caregiver burden, depression, and anxiety were positively related with each other, and all these variables had a negative relation with social support. Patient's loss of physical functions was positively related with caregiver burden, anxiety, and somatic expression of depression. Caregivers expressed worries for their own health conditions. Given these results, we consider the hypothesis of an emotional-somatic impact of ALS care. The implications and limitations are discussed.
肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）是一种由运动神经元变性引起的进行性和致命的神经退行性疾病。 ALS 照顾者的负担相当高。 目前，还很少有研究调查 ALS 护理的情绪影响。 我们在 40 名 ALS 照顾者中进行了一项横断面研究，评估了一般担忧、照顾负担、抑郁、焦虑、社会支持感知和患者疾病严重程度。 照顾者负担、抑郁和焦虑相互之间呈正相关，所有这些变量与社会支持呈负相关。 患者身体功能的丧失与照顾者负担、焦虑和抑郁的躯体表现呈正相关。 照顾者对自己的健康状况表示担忧。 根据这些结果，我们考虑了 ALS 护理的情绪-躯体影响的假设。 讨论了其含义和局限性。
