title: Perceived caregiver stress in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: A case control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cross sectional studies have reported a tremendous amount of stress in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The present study aimed at evaluating the perceived stress in caregivers of patients with AD and MCI compared to controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease/Mild Cognitive Impairment were recruited at the Memory Clinic of Neurology Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Northern India. The controls included caregivers of patients with chronic medical and psychiatric disorders. Caregivers were interviewed using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the patients were assessed using The Blessed Activity of Daily Living (ADL), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating scale. The perceived stress of caregivers was compared amongst both groups and correlated with the severity of illness and activities of daily living of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregivers of a total of 31 patients of AD/MCI (Males = 24, Females = 7), and 30 controls (Males = 18, Females = 12) were interviewed. PSS Score was 23.29 ± 7.17 in cases and 7.5 ± 3.12 in controls. ADL Score was 7.97±5.53 in cases and 0.00 in controls. There was a significant difference between the PSS and ADL scores between those with AD and controls (P < 0.0001). Caregivers of patients with MCI had lower PSS scores compared to AD caregivers but significantly higher scores compared to caregivers of other chronic disorders. Similarly, correlation between Perceived Stress and ADL was significant (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Present study shows that caregivers of patients with AD/MCI have a high perceived stress compared to caregivers of patients with other chronic illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Kuljeet Singh
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dhikav
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ankur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pinki
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mishra
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; caregiver stress; mild cognitive impairment