Abstract
BACKGROUND:The objective of the study was to assess the degree of burden and its pos-sible change in family caregivers of the long-term sick family member with progressiveAlzheimer's disease (AD) during eight-month monitoring.METHODS:In addition to the common psychiatric examination the Mini-Mental StateExamination (MMSE) was administered in patients to indicate the severity of the demen-tia and the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) was administered in caregivers to assessed degreeof burden. The total of 60 people has been examined - 30 patients with AD and 30 theircaregivers (CGs) were recruited from the Department of Psychiatry.RESULTS:At the beginning of the study there were 18 patients with mild stage of AD (60%)and 11 patients suffered from moderate or severe stage of AD (36%).
After 8 monthsfrom the beginning of the study there were 19 patients with moderate or severe stage ofAD(63%) and two patients suffered from severe stage of AD (6,6%). The change in thedegree of caregiver burden was examined during the whole study.
During the study twentytwo caregivers (75 %) asked for the professional psychiatric help.CONCLUSIONS:Intervention and support must therefore be carefully targeted, recognisingthose components of a potential care package that will be useful in the particular circum-stances. It is also important to promote measures to soften the impact that the patient hason the caregiver, and that, at the same time, improves the quality of life of the patient.