Association between nutritional and functional status indicators with caregivers' burden in Alzheimer's disease.

Aim: To investigate the association between nutritional and functional status of Alzheimer's disease patients and caregivers' burden. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 79 community‐dwelling Alzheimer's disease patients living with their caregivers. Caregivers' burden was assessed using the Zarit Burden‐Interview. Multinomial logistic regressions were carried out using caregivers' burden as the dependent variable. Results: Caregivers' severe overload was strongly associated with weight loss of more than 3 kg during the previous 3 months (OR = 7.34; 95% CI: 2.02‐26.65), lower values of calf girth (OR = 3.20; 95% CI: 1.03‐9.93), sarcopenia status (OR = 3.50; 95% CI: 1.09‐11.22), and lower gait speed values (OR = 3.83; 95% CI: 1.18‐12.47). Otherwise, overweight or obesity (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05‐0.83), was related to lower odds of higher caregivers' burden. Conclusion: In community‐dwelling older adults with Alzheimer's disease, the nutritional and functional status impairments were strongly associated with increasing caregivers' burden, whereas overweight conferred protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]