Correlates of intrusion and avoidance as stress response symptoms in family carers of patients suffering from dementia.
OBJECTIVE
To explore intrusion and avoidance in family carers of dementia patients.


METHODS
We studied 196 family carers of 196 home-dwelling dementia patients. Carers were assessed by the Impact of Events Scale (IES), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Distress scale of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-D), and patients with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI).


RESULTS
Twenty carers (10%) scored above 19 on the intrusion and avoidance subscales of the IES, whereas 90 (47%) scored above 8 on both subscales. This moderate to high stress response was independently explained by being a spouse (OR 3.74 (95% CI 1.81-7.74)), high scores on GDS (OR 1.12 (95% CI 1.06-1.18) per unit increase) and high score on NPI-D (OR 1.05 (95% CI 1.01-1.09) per unit increase).


CONCLUSIONS
Spouses and other family carers having daily contact with patients with dementia experience moderate to high levels of intrusion and avoidance. These symptoms are associated with symptoms of anxiety, distress and depression and should be taken into account when tailoring interventions for carers.
Ulstein
Ingun
I
Norwegian Centre for Dementia Research, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. ingun.ulstein@aldringoghelse.no
Wyller
Torgeir Bruun
TB
Engedal
Knut
K
D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D018454:Spouses; D013315:Stress, Psychological