Problems family caregivers encounter in home care of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a degenerative dementia in which primary degeneration of the frontal region of the brain occurs. Because of the behavioral symptoms, the care of FTD patients has numerous problems. However, little has been clarified with regard to the actual care situation, especially in a family care setting. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the caregiver burden and problems associated with the care of FTD patients in home care settings.Two patients were diagnosed with FTD on the basis of the Lund and Manchester group criteria at the clinic for outpatients of a hospital located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the family caregivers of the FTD patients. The content of the interview covered the patient course and any problems encountered in the home setting regarding activities of daily living (ADL), behavioral disorders and cognitive function.These FTD patients had abnormal eating behaviors such as cramming of food into one's mouth and the abnormal manner of eating. They had to be fed bit by bit with total caregiver assistance. They were also overactive, restless and distractable, which subsequently caused problems with ADL-assistance including extreme uncooperativeness toward their caregivers. Other behavioral symptoms associated with FTD, e.g., stereotypic behavior, distractability and high impulsivity, were also considerably burdening to the caregivers.The behavioral symptoms peculiar to FTD pose huge problems and heavy burden to the family caregiver. More resources should be allocated to specific needs of the FTD patients and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]