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Anxiety and Depression in Family Caregivers of People With Alzheimer Disease

The LASER-AD Study

Received June 17, 2004; revised August 9, September 7, 2004; accepted September 17, 2004. From the Dept. of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK. Send correspondence and reprint requests to Gill Livingston, M.D., FRCPsych, Dept. of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, Holborn Union Building, Archway Campus, Highgate Hill, London, UK N19 5LW. e-mail: g.livingston{at}ucl.ac.uk
© 2005 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

Objective: There are high rates of stress, distress, and psychological illness in family caregivers of people with dementia. Female caregivers and those caring for people with neuropsychiatric symptoms are particularly at risk. The authors report on the prevalence of anxiety and depression in a sample of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer disease (AD) and compare the characteristics of those who did or did not have those conditions. Methods: A group of 153 people with AD and their caregivers were interviewed as part of a larger study of AD. Results: In all, 23.5% of caregivers scored at or above caseness level for anxiety, and 10.5%, at levels for depression. Care-recipient (CR) activities of daily living (ADL) impairment, being a caregiver living with the CR, being a female caregiver, reporting a poorer quality of relationship with the CR, and caregivers reporting their health as being poor all predicted anxiety disorder. CR irritability, caregivers reporting poor health, and a poorer quality of relationship with the CR predicted depression. Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware of the high rates of anxiety as well as depressive symptoms in family caregivers of people with AD, especially in female caregivers. CRs and Caregivers’ impaired physical health put them at risk for psychological morbidity and should be treated energetically. A poor-quality relationship between the caregiver and the CR predicts both caregiver depression and anxiety. Caregivers living with the CR are much more likely to be anxious than depressed.

Key Words: Depression • Dementia • Alzheimer Disease • Family Caregivers • Anxiety

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