Assessment of burden in caregivers of Alzheimer's disease from India

Most of existing literature on dementia caregiving comes from Western countries but the caregiving experience appears to vary in different societies. The cultural norms and socioeconomic resources of India are in stark contrast to western societies, however the dementia caregiver burden remains understudied in Indian context.

We aim to assess the burden in relation to key variables and explore its predictors in caregivers of Alzheimer's disease.

Thirty-two patient-caregiver dyads were selected. The dementia characteristics were assessed with Hindi Mental State Examination and Clinical Dementia Rating; burden was evaluated using Burden Assessment Schedule.

The caregiver sample had an overall moderate degree of burden. The burden in patient's behavior and external support area increased with the degree of cognitive impairment. Caregivers for male patients were found to have a higher burden. The female caregivers perceived higher burden in physical and mental health, spouse related and caregiver's routine. The burden in caregivers from joint families did not differ from nuclear families except for a lower burden in external support area. On stepwise multiple regression, spousal relation, HMSE score and male patient emerged as significant predictors of total burden.

There is a need to devote more research attention towards dementia caregivers from developing countries and to understand the culture-specific impact of caregiving.