Caring for dementia sufferers in the community: the caregivers problems

Twenty-four carers of dementia sufferers were screened for psychological well being and compared with 19 carers of non-demented elderly. Carers of demented relatives showed significantly raised levels of stress on the Relatives' Stress Scale (RSS), and also increased psychiatric morbidity on the 30 item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30), when compared with the carers on non-demented relatives. Scores in the behaviour and mood disturbance scale (BMD) were significantly raised in the dementia group of patients, when compared with the non-demented group. However, high scores on the behaviour and mood disturbance Scale for the dementia sufferer were not correlated with increased stress and psychiatric morbidity scores found in the relatives of the patients with dementia. The implications of these findings are discussed.