Obtaining Information from Family Caregivers Is Important to Detect Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms and Caregiver Burden in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Tetsuya Yamagami; Kazuhiro Harada; Hiroyuki Hashidate; Yasuyoshi Asakawa; Kenji Nihei; Satomi Kaneya; Chiharu Yoshii

doi:10.1159/000441893

Obtaining Information from Family Caregivers Is Important to Detect Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms and Caregiver Burden in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2016 Jan 19;6(1):1-9. doi: 10.1159/000441893. eCollection 2016 Jan-Apr.

Authors

Tetsuya Yamagami¹, Kazuhiro Harada², Hiroyuki Hashidate³, Yasuyoshi Asakawa⁴, Kenji Nihei⁵, Satomi Kaneya⁶, Chiharu Yoshii⁷

Affiliations

¹ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; School of Health Care, Takasaki University of Health and Welfare, Takasaki, Japan.
² The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; Graduate School of Health Science, Kibi International University, Okayama, Japan.
³ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; School of Health Science, Kyorin University, Japan.
⁴ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Japan.
⁵ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; Hoshi General Hospital, Fukushima, Japan.
⁶ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; Kamma Memorial Hospital, Nasushiobara, Japan.
⁷ The Research Team for Understanding Daily In-Home Activities of Elderly People with Dementia, The Japanese Physical Therapy Association, Japan; Health Department of Rehabilitation, University of Tokyo Health Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Background: The objectives of this study are to clarify the differences between the difficulties in daily life experienced by patients with both mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and chronic disease and those experienced by healthy elderly individuals.

Methods: We assessed (a) cognitive function; (b) gait ability; (c) behavioral and psychological symptoms (observed at home); (d) activities of daily living (observed at home); (e) family caregiver burden, and (f) intention to continue family caregiving of 255 cognitively normal and 103 MCI subjects attending adult day care services covered by long-term care insurance, and compared the two groups.

Results: Subjects with MCI display more behavioral and psychological symptoms than cognitively normal subjects, posing a heavy caregiver burden (p < 0.01). Behavioral and psychological symptoms most commonly observed in subjects with MCI are apathy, hallucinations, delusions, agitation, and aberrant motor behavior.

Conclusion: Information regarding the behavioral and psychological symptoms displayed at home by patients with MCI can only be obtained from family caregivers living with the patients. To provide early-stage support for elderly patients with MCI, adult day care workers should collect information from family caregivers regarding behavioral and psychological symptoms observed at home.

Keywords: Adult day care services; Behavioral and psychological symptoms; Family caregiver burden; Mild cognitive impairment.