Search

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the role of predictability in the relationship between caregiving demands and caregiving consequences., Design: This 2-year longitudinal survey study collected from self-report questionnaires. A convenience sample of family caregivers of older persons living with dementia were recruited from a neurology clinic., Results: A total of 200 family caregivers were recruited to participate. Analysis indicated predictability was a partial mediator between caregiving demand and caregiver consequences of role strain, depressive symptoms and both physical and mental components of health-related quality of life at the 2-year follow. Predictability accounted for 25 %, 28.8 %, 15.3 % and 46.5 % of the relationship between caregiving demand and caregiving consequences of role strain, depressive symptoms, physical- and mental-health related quality of life, respectively., Conclusions: The contributions of caregiving demand to outcomes of caregiver consequences were in part due family caregivers perceived predictability for caregiving., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To determine distinct courses of change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among family caregivers of individuals with dementia and how participating in a home-based caregiver-training program affects the probability of belonging to each course. Sixty three caregivers were in the intervention group, and 66 caregivers were in the control group of a single-blinded randomized clinical trial. Two distinct trajectories of HRQoL were identified: a well-functioning trajectory and a poor-functioning trajectory. Caregivers who received the training program were more likely than those who did not have a well-functioning trajectory of HRQoL over 18 months. This trajectory included bodily pain (b = 1.02, odds ratio [OR] = 2.76), general health perception (b = 1.28, OR = 3.60), social functioning (b = 1.12, OR = 3.05), vitality (b = 1.51, OR = 4.49), general mental health (b = 1.08, OR = 2.94), and mental component summary (b = 1.27, OR = 3.55). Home-based caregiver training can be considered as part of the protocol for managing patients with dementia and their caregivers., Trial Registration Number: NCT02667951., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Patients with dementia differ in their behavioral and psychological symptoms according to their diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or vascular dementia (VaD), requiring different symptom-management strategies. This study analyzed data from a sub-sample of a randomized clinical trial to determine the effects of a home-based training program on family caregivers of patients with dementia in northern Taiwan. Our sub-sample comprised patient-caregiver dyads (46 VaD and 68 AD patients) followed for 18 months. Caregivers of AD patients in the intervention group had better competence, preparedness, health-related quality of life, and fewer depressive symptoms than those in the control group. Caregivers of VaD patients in the intervention group had better competence and health-related quality of life than those in the control group. The training program benefited family caregivers of AD patients more than caregivers of VaD patients. Specific training programs need to be developed for family caregivers of VaD patients., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)