Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Patients with Dementia Associated with Increased Psychological Distress in Caregivers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Alzheimers Dis
; 80(4): 1705-1712, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1194580
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The social isolation imposed by COVID-19 pandemic can have a major impact on the mental health of dementia patients and their caregivers.OBJECTIVE:
We aim to evaluate the neurological decline of patients with dementia and the caregivers' burden during the pandemic.METHODS:
We performed a cross-sectional study. Caregivers of dementia patients following in the outpatient clinic were included. A structured telephone interview composed of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Beck Depression (BDI) and Anxiety (BAI) Inventories to address cognitive, behavioral, and functional changes associated with social distancing during the Sars-Cov-2 outbreak. Patients were divided in two groups according to caregivers' report with perceived Altered Cognition (AC) and Stable Cognition (SC).RESULTS:
A total of 58 patients (median age 57 years [21-87], 58.6%females) and caregivers (median age 76.5 years [55-89], 79.3%females) were included. Cognitive decline was shown by most patients (53.4%), as well as behavioral symptoms (48.3%), especially apathy/depression (24.1%), and functional decline (34.5%). The AC group (nâ=â31) presented increased behavioral (67.7%versus 25.9%, pâ=â0.002) and functional (61.3%versus 3.7%, pâ<â0.001) changes when compared to the SC group. In the AC group, ZBI, BDI, NPI-Q caregiver distress, and NPI-Q patient's severity of symptoms scores were worse than the SC group (pâ<â0.005 for all).CONCLUSION:
Patients' neuropsychiatric worsening and caregiver burden were frequent during the pandemic. Worsening of cognition was associated with increased caregivers' psychological distress.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Social Isolation
/
Caregivers
/
Dementia
/
Psychological Distress
/
COVID-19
/
Mental Disorders
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
J Alzheimers Dis
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
/
Neurology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
JAD-201513
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