Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2019;47(1-2):42-54. doi: 10.1159/000495345. Epub 2019 Jan 10.
Caregivers of patients with neurodegenerative diseases are at heightened risk for serious health problems, but health differences between individual caregivers abound.
To determine whether atrophy in patient brains could be used to identify caregivers at heightened risk for health problems and which patient variables mediate this relationship.
In 162 patient-caregiver dyads, we assessed patient atrophy using structural MRI, caregiver health, and patient behavior and cognitive symptoms.
Patient atrophy in the right insula and medial frontal gyrus was associated with worse caregiver health; this relationship was partially mediated by patient neuropsychiatric symptoms, and assessing atrophy in these regions improved predictions of poor caregiver health above and beyond patient behavioral symptoms.
This study shows the value of patients' brain data in identifying caregivers at risk for becoming sick themselves.
患有神经退行性疾病患者的护理人员面临严重健康问题的风险增加，但个体护理人员之间的健康差异很大。
确定患者大脑的萎缩是否可用于识别健康问题风险较高的护理人员，以及哪些患者变量介导这种关系。
在 162 对患者-护理人员对中，我们使用结构 MRI、护理人员健康以及患者行为和认知症状来评估患者的萎缩情况。
右侧脑岛和内侧额回的患者萎缩与护理人员健康状况较差相关；这种关系部分通过患者神经精神症状来介导，并且在这些区域评估萎缩可以提高对护理人员健康不良的预测，超出了对患者行为症状的预测。
这项研究表明患者大脑数据在识别自身患病风险较高的护理人员方面具有价值。
