Mausbach Brent T, Chattillion Elizabeth A, Roepke Susan K, Patterson Thomas L, Grant Igor
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Jan;21(1):5-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2012.10.001. Epub 2013 Jan 2.
To conduct an analysis of the stress, coping, and mood consequences of Alzheimer caregiving.
Cross-sectional.
Community-based study.
Sample included 125 Alzheimer caregivers and 60 demographically similar older adults with nondemented spouses (i.e., noncaregivers).
We compared caregivers and noncaregivers on stress, coping, and mood outcomes. We also examined antidepressant use within the caregiver sample. An emphasis was placed upon effect size differences, including Cohen's d as well as more clinically meaningful effect sizes.
Caregivers were significantly more likely to endorse depressive symptoms and to meet clinically significant cutoff for depression (40% for caregivers; 5% for noncaregivers). Approximately 25% of caregivers reported taking antidepressant medication, although 69% of these continued to experience significant symptoms of depression. Caregivers also utilized fewer positive coping and greater negative coping strategies than noncaregivers.
The number of caregivers will increase dramatically over the next two decades, and caregivers will likely seek care from primary care providers. We provide an overview of the psychological issues facing caregivers so that effective screening and treatment may be recommended.
分析阿尔茨海默病护理的压力、应对方式及情绪后果。
横断面研究。
基于社区的研究。
样本包括125名阿尔茨海默病护理者和60名在人口统计学上与患有非痴呆配偶（即非护理者）的老年人相似的个体。
我们比较了护理者和非护理者在压力、应对方式和情绪结果方面的差异。我们还研究了护理者样本中抗抑郁药物的使用情况。重点关注效应量差异，包括科恩d值以及更具临床意义的效应量。
护理者更有可能认可抑郁症状并达到临床上抑郁的显著临界值（护理者为40%；非护理者为5%）。约25%的护理者报告服用抗抑郁药物，尽管其中69%仍有明显的抑郁症状。与非护理者相比，护理者使用的积极应对方式更少，消极应对策略更多。
在未来二十年中，护理者的数量将大幅增加，且护理者可能会向初级保健提供者寻求护理。我们概述了护理者面临的心理问题，以便推荐有效的筛查和治疗方法。
