Health Care Center Zagreb-West, Prilaz baruna Filipovića 11, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia,
Psychiatr Danub. 2021 Dec;33(Suppl 13):189-198.
We aimed to estimate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in family-member caregivers of patients with dementia in Croatia and to assess relevant predictors. A cross-sectional study in family medicine practices in Zagreb (Health Care Center Zagreb-West) was performed in period 10/2017-9/2018 and included 131 dyads consisting of a patient with dementia and one dominant informal caregiver. Patient measures included Mini-mental-state-examination (MMSE), Barthel-index and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q). Caregiver measures included 36-Item Short-Form-Health-Survey (SF-36), Zarit-Burden-Interview (ZBI) and structured questionnaire regarding general information on caregiver and patient. SF-36 is a reliable instrument to estimate HRQoL (Cronbach α ≥0.79 for all domains). Caregiver HRQoL was higher than reported in Croatian population in physical functioning (PF), role physical (RP), general health (GH), social functioning (SF) and role emotional (RE) domains. More pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms in patient with dementia were associated with caregiver's lower HRQoL in vitality (VT) and mental health (MH) domains. Caregivers with higher caregiver burden assessed by ZBI had lower HRQoL in RP, bodily pain (BP), GH, VT, SF, RE and MH domains. In multivariate analyses, higher caregiver's burden was independent predictor of lower HRQoL in RP, VT, RE and MH domains. Neuropsychiatric symptoms and use of day-care service were recognized as independent predictors of lower HRQoL (in PF, BP and GH, SF, RE domains, respectively). Neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver burden are associated with HRQoL in caregivers of patients with dementia. Interventions including psychological support and learning of skills necessary to tackle individual problems may help in improvement of HRQoL.
我们旨在评估克罗地亚痴呆患者家庭成员照顾者的健康相关生活质量（HRQoL），并评估相关预测因素。这是一项在萨格勒布家庭医学实践中进行的横断面研究（萨格勒布西部医疗保健中心），于 2017 年 10 月至 2018 年 9 月期间进行，共纳入 131 对患者（痴呆患者）和一名主要非正规照顾者。患者的评估包括 Mini-mental-state-examination（MMSE）、Barthel 指数和神经精神问卷-问卷（NPI-Q）。照顾者的评估包括 36-Item Short-Form-Health-Survey（SF-36）、Zarit-Burden-Interview（ZBI）和关于照顾者和患者一般信息的结构化问卷。SF-36 是一种可靠的评估 HRQoL 的工具（所有领域的 Cronbach α≥0.79）。照顾者的 HRQoL 在生理功能（PF）、角色生理（RP）、一般健康（GH）、社会功能（SF）和角色情感（RE）方面均高于克罗地亚人群的报告。痴呆患者的神经精神症状越明显，照顾者的生命力（VT）和心理健康（MH）领域的 HRQoL 越低。ZBI 评估的照顾者负担越高，照顾者的 RP、身体疼痛（BP）、GH、VT、SF、RE 和 MH 领域的 HRQoL 越低。多元分析显示，照顾者的负担越高是 RP、VT、RE 和 MH 领域 HRQoL 降低的独立预测因素。神经精神症状和使用日间护理服务被认为是 PF、BP 和 GH、SF、RE 领域 HRQoL 降低的独立预测因素（分别）。神经精神症状和照顾者负担与痴呆患者照顾者的 HRQoL 相关。包括心理支持和学习应对个人问题所需技能在内的干预措施可能有助于提高 HRQoL。
