title: Factors associated with the variability in caregiver assessments of the capacities of patients with Alzheimer disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several studies have identified certain caregiver factors that can produce variability in their assessments of the capacities of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify the caregiver variables associated with variability in their ratings of patients' capacities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive sample of 221 outpatients with AD and their family caregivers. The capacities evaluated by caregivers were the degree of functional disability, using the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD); psychological and behavioral symptoms, via the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI); anosognosia, with the Anosognosia Questionnaire-Dementia (AQ-D); and quality of life, using the Quality of Life in AD (QOL-AD). The relationship between these measures and caregiver's gender, burden, depression, and health was analyzed by means of a bivariate analysis, calculating the effect size (Cohen d) and subsequently by a regression analysis, calculating the contribution coefficient (CC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The greatest variability in caregiver assessments was observed in relation to patients with early-stage dementia, where caregiver's burden was the main factor associated with a more negative evaluation (d = 1.02-1.25). Depression in the caregiver was associated with less variability and only in the assessments of patients with moderate dementia (d = 0.38-0.69). In the regression analysis, caregiver factors were associated with greater variance in scores on the NPI (CC = 37.4%) and QOL-AD (CC = 27.2%), and lower variance in AQ-D (CC = 21.6%) and DAD (CC = 10.3%) scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caregiver's burden and depression were associated with more negative assessments of patients' psychological and behavioral symptoms and quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. jllconde@ub.edu
authors.forename: Josep L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Conde-Sala
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reñé-Ramírez
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Turró-Garriga
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gascón-Bayarri
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Juncadella-Puig
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moreno-Cordón
authors.forename: Vanesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Viñas-Diez
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vilalta-Franch
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garre-Olmo
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015588:Observer Variation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Alzheimer disease; anosognosia; family caregivers; functional capacity; neuropsychiatric symptoms; quality of life