title: Predictors of caregiver burden in partners of patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Aim of this study was to determine the predictors of caregiver burden among spouse caregivers of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Forty consecutive PD patients and their spouse caregivers were included. Patients were assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Hoehn and Yahr scale (HY), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Stress and depressive symptoms among caregivers were evaluated using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) scale and the GDS. Only PD severity (HY) and mental symptoms (NPI) were significantly associated to caregiver distress. A major attention must be given to the early identification of factors generating stress in caregivers in order to improve caregiver quality of life and patient's care.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze Cliniche, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Amelio
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Terruso
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Palmeri
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Benedetto
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Famoso
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cottone
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aridon
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ragonese
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savettieri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology