Alzheimer's Disease: Caregivers' Perceptions of Burden

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine factors contributing to the burden of primary caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease patients. Burden was measured by the Burden Interview while the patient's level of functioning was rated by caregivers on the Symptom Questionnaire and the Dementia Rating Scale. In addition, the relationship between burden and a number of other relevant variables including stress responses, help orientation, social support, and predisease caregiver-patient relationship was assessed. The cross-sectional analyses suggest that burden is uncorrelated overall with level of dementia. However, there are significant differences in level of burden reported by respondents caring for patients in varying stages of the disease. While burden was found to be negatively correlated with the predisease caregiver-patient relationship, burden was positively correlated with stress response and support group impact. Finally, no relationship between burden and help orientation was found. The retest analysis was based upon data collected from subjects retested nine months following the original testing. As predicted, level of dementia, burden, and support group attendance exhibited significant increases. Additionally, caregivers reported a decrease in help beliefs consistent with the medical model. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.