Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Psychogeriatrics. 2022 Sep;22(5):688-698. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12871. Epub 2022 Jul 19.
Agitation is a common symptom in dementia and linked to caregiver burden, but both agitation and burden are multidimensional constructs. The current study sought to determine whether specific presentations of agitation differentially relate to aspects of caregiver burden.
Medical record data from an outpatient memory clinic were extracted for 609 persons with dementia, including caregiver-reported burden and care recipient agitation.
Exploratory factor analysis yielded three domains of agitation on the Cohen Mansfield Agitation Inventory ('Physically Aggressive', 'Physically Non-Aggressive', 'Verbally Agitated') and four domains of burden on the Zarit Burden Interview ('Impact on Life', 'Guilt/Uncertainty', 'Embarrassment/Frustration', 'Overwhelm'). Regression analyses demonstrated all domains of agitation positively predicted overall burden. Regarding specific aspects of burden, Physically Aggressive behaviours predicted Embarrassment/Frustration. Physically Non-Aggressive behaviours predicted Impact on Life and Guilt/Uncertainty. Verbally Agitated behaviours predicted all burden dimensions.
Results suggest specific aspects of agitation may differentially contribute to facets of caregiver burden.
激越是痴呆患者的常见症状，与照料者负担相关，但激越和负担都是多维结构。本研究旨在确定激越的具体表现是否与照料者负担的某些方面存在差异。
从一家门诊记忆诊所的病历中提取了 609 名痴呆症患者的数据，包括照料者报告的负担和患者的激越情况。
探索性因子分析得出 Cohen-Mansfield 激越量表（“身体攻击”、“身体非攻击”、“言语激越”）的三个激越维度和 Zarit 负担访谈（“对生活的影响”、“内疚/不确定”、“尴尬/挫折”、“不堪重负”）的四个负担维度。回归分析表明，激越的所有维度均正向预测总体负担。关于负担的具体方面，身体攻击行为预测尴尬/挫折感。身体非攻击行为预测对生活的影响和内疚/不确定感。言语激越行为预测所有负担维度。
结果表明，激越的特定方面可能对照料者负担的不同方面有差异贡献。
