The patient-caregiver dyad: the impact of cognitive and functional impairment

This study evaluates the cognitive impairment impact on the caregiver's burden and quality of life.Patient-caregiver dyads admitted to dementia Diagnostic-Therapeutic Care Pathway underwent a psychological and neuropsychological assessment. Overall, 30 caregivers (age 58.97 ± 14.68) of patients with dementia and 28 caregivers (age 58.57 ± 12.22) of patients with MCI were recruited. Caregiver's burden is positively correlated to the number (r = .37, p = .003) and severity (r = .37, p = .003) of neuropsychiatric patient's symptoms and with the caregiver's distress (r = .36, p = .004). It is also negatively related to good quality of life perception (r =  - .52, p =  < .0001), to lower cognitive impairment (r =  - .26, p = .05), to higher patient's residual functional abilities in daily living (r =  - .32, p = .010) and to positive perception of the physician's communication (r =  - .28, p = .026). Moreover, the caregiver's burden is significantly predicted by the patient's low level of instrumental activity of daily living (β =  - .74; p = .043) and by the number of neuropsychiatric symptoms (β = .74; p = .029). Thus, this study suggests that the autonomy and neuropsychiatric symptoms may determine the caregiver's burden.