Characteristics of Depressed Caregivers of Veterans With Dementia.
This study examined the characteristics of caregivers and persons with dementia (PWD) to determine their association with caregiver depression. Participants included 508 PWD (veterans) and 486 caregivers from Boston, Houston, Providence, Beaumont (Texas), and Oklahoma City, identified from diagnoses from medical records and recruited from February 2007 to July 2009, for a larger study evaluating Partners in Dementia Care, a care-coordination intervention. Characteristics evaluated for PWD included activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, and disruptive behavior. Caregiver characteristics evaluated included caregiver unmet needs, support-service use, and number of informal helpers. Caregiver depression was measured using the Iowa form 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Depressed caregivers reported significantly more unmet needs than the nondepressed caregivers. Depressed caregivers also reported a high frequency of disruptive behavior in their PWD. Caregiver perceptions of unmet needs may be an important target for intervention.
VA HSR&D Houston Center of Excellence, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Carla
C
Bejjani
Center for Mental Health and Aging, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA Research & Development Service, Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
A Lynn
AL
Snow
Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA Margaret Blenkner Research Institute, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Katherine S
KS
Judge
Margaret Blenkner Research Institute, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, OH, USA.
David M
DM
Bass
Department of Management, Policy and Community Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Robert O
RO
Morgan
VA HSR&D Houston Center of Excellence, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA Section of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Nancy
N
Wilson
VA HSR&D Houston Center of Excellence, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA Section of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Annette
A
Walder
Margaret Blenkner Research Institute, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Wendy J
WJ
Looman
Margaret Blenkner Research Institute, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Catherine
C
McCarthy
VA HSR&D Houston Center of Excellence, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Houston, TX, USA mkunik@bcm.edu.
Mark E
ME
Kunik
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D014728:Veterans