Hazzan Afeez Abiola, Shannon Harry, Ploeg Jenny, Raina Parminder, Gitlin Laura N, Oremus Mark
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
BMC Res Notes. 2016 Jul 18;9:344. doi: 10.1186/s13104-016-2150-z.
Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) are some of the leading causes of morbidity in developed nations. Unpaid family caregivers are primarily responsible for providing the care and support needed by persons with ADRD. In the process of caring for their loved ones with ADRD, caregivers often have to deal with multiple challenges, including their own deteriorating well-being and overall quality-of-life (QoL). A recent systematic review showed that very little research has been undertaken to study the relationship between AD caregiver QoL and the level or quality of care that caregivers provide to their loved ones. In this study, we investigate the relationships between caregiver well-being and the care provided to persons with ADRD.
We used 12-month follow-up data from the Philadelphia site (n = 125) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) multi-site study, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH I) to examine the relationship between caregiver well-being and the level or quality of care provided while adjusting for important covariates (e.g., age, income, and years since caregiving). Caregivers who participated in REACH I had to be at least 21 years of age and they had to be providing at least 4 h of care per day for 6 months or more to a live-in loved one with ADRD. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between well-being and the level or quality of care provided to persons with ADRD.
Of the 255 caregivers who participated in the REACH I study, 125 (49.0 %) remained after 12 months of follow-up. Comparisons of participants at the 12-month follow-up and participants who were lost to follow-up showed that these two sets of participants were not statistically significantly different on any of the variables examined in this study. Linear regression analysis showed that there was no statistically significant association between caregiver well-being and level or quality of care provided.
Further research is required to investigate the factors associated with level and quality of care provided to persons with ADRD, and whether caregiver well-being (or QoL in general) is a contributor.
阿尔茨海默病及相关疾病（ADRD）是发达国家发病的主要原因之一。 unpaid family caregivers主要负责为ADRD患者提供所需的护理和支持。在照顾患有ADRD的亲人的过程中， caregivers often have to deal with multiple challenges, including their own deteriorating well-being and overall quality-of-life (QoL). 最近的一项系统综述表明，很少有研究探讨AD caregiver QoL与caregivers向亲人提供的护理水平或质量之间的关系。在本研究中，我们调查了caregiver well-being与向ADRD患者提供的护理之间的关系。
我们使用了美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）多中心研究“增强阿尔茨海默病caregiver健康资源（REACH I）”费城站点（n = 125）的12个月随访数据，以检查caregiver well-being与在调整重要协变量（如年龄、收入和caregiving年限）时提供的护理水平或质量之间的关系。参与REACH I的caregivers必须至少21岁，并且必须每天为住在一起的患有ADRD的亲人提供至少4小时的护理，持续6个月或更长时间。线性回归分析用于检查well-being与向ADRD患者提供的护理水平或质量之间的关系。
在参与REACH I研究的255名caregivers中，125名（49.0%）在12个月的随访后仍在参与。12个月随访的参与者与失访的参与者的比较表明，这两组参与者在本研究中检查的任何变量上均无统计学显著差异。线性回归分析表明，caregiver well-being与提供的护理水平或质量之间无统计学显著关联。
需要进一步研究调查与向ADRD患者提供的护理水平和质量相关的因素，以及caregiver well-being（或一般QoL）是否是一个促成因素。
