Torrisi Michele, De Cola Maria C, Marra Angela, De Luca Rosaria, Bramanti Placido, Calabrò Rocco S
Behavior and Robotic Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Centro Neurolesi 'Bonino-Pulejo', Messina, Italy.
Psychogeriatrics. 2017 Mar;17(2):103-107. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12197. Epub 2016 Jul 13.
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are very common. They represent a main cause of burden and distress in caregivers and can lead to early institutionalization of patients. We aimed to find the most specific behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia that can strongly affect the caregivers' burden.
Twenty-seven patients and their caregivers were enrolled in this study. All of the patients were affected by Alzheimer's, vascular, or frontotemporal dementia and were evaluated with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and Mini-Mental State Examination. Caregivers were administered the Caregiver Burden Inventory.
Apathy, depression, anxiety, and agitation were the most common symptoms and were found in up to 90% of the patients. We detected strong correlations between patient neuropsychiatric symptoms, (i.e. irritability, hallucinations, aberrant motor behavioural, depression, and agitation) and Caregiver Burden Inventory scores. Multiple regression analysis found hallucinations, irritability, and depression to be significant predictors of caregiver burden. Moreover, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory score was more closely related to caregiver burden than the Mini-Mental State Examination score.
Our results revealed that demented patients' behavioural problems are related to the level of caregiver burden and distress. Further investigations are needed to differentiate the present findings among dementia subtypes and to better evaluate the effect of caregivers' personal characteristics on their own burden.
痴呆的行为和心理症状非常常见。它们是照料者负担和痛苦的主要原因，并且可能导致患者过早地被送入机构照料。我们旨在找出对照料者负担有强烈影响的最具特异性的痴呆行为和心理症状。
本研究纳入了27名患者及其照料者。所有患者均患有阿尔茨海默病、血管性痴呆或额颞叶痴呆，并接受了神经精神科问卷和简易精神状态检查评估。照料者接受了照料者负担量表评估。
冷漠、抑郁、焦虑和激越为最常见的症状，高达90%的患者存在这些症状。我们检测到患者的神经精神症状（即易怒、幻觉、异常运动行为、抑郁和激越）与照料者负担量表得分之间存在强相关性。多元回归分析发现幻觉、易怒和抑郁是照料者负担的显著预测因素。此外，神经精神科问卷得分比简易精神状态检查得分与照料者负担的关系更为密切。
我们的结果显示，痴呆患者的行为问题与照料者的负担和痛苦程度相关。需要进一步研究以区分痴呆亚型之间的当前研究结果，并更好地评估照料者个人特征对其自身负担的影响。
