title: Caregiver burden and fatigue in caregivers of people with dementia: Measuring human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 and -7 DNA levels in saliva.
abstract: We examined chronic fatigue, which has not been investigated in detail, in family caregivers for people with dementia.
  
  
  
  Forty-four community-dwelling family caregivers (the caregiver group: CG) and 50 elderly control participants (the non-caregiver group: NCG) participated in this study. We measured salivary human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 and -7 DNA levels and the Chalder fatigue scale (CFS) to assess levels of fatigue; we also measured the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly, Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, Mini-Mental State Examination, Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, and Dementia Behavior Disturbance Scale.
  
  
  
  For CG, the salivary HHV-6 DNA levels and CFS scores were significantly higher than those in NCG. The salivary HHV-6 DNA levels in CG were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms, the cognitive function of the patients, and the activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) abilities of the patients. The CFS scores in CG significantly correlated with caregiver burden, depression symptoms, leisure physical activity, the number of other family caregivers, and the hours spent for caregiving per week, as well as with behavior disturbances and ADL/IADL abilities.
  
  
  
  The salivary HHV-6 DNA levels may be added as a new biomarker for caregiver exhaustion. We concluded that fatigue assessments should be performed by not only a questionnaire, such as the CFS, but also by a biomarker search, such as HHV-6, when estimating the caregiver burden for family caregivers of people with dementia.
authors.affiliation: Medical Center for Dementia, Kobe University Hospital, 7-5-2, Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0017, Japan; Kobe Gakuin University Faculty of Rehabilitation, 518 Arise, Ikawadani-cho, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2180, Japan. Electronic address: tohmiiiii@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tohmi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.affiliation: Kobe Gakuin University Faculty of Rehabilitation, 518 Arise, Ikawadani-cho, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2180, Japan.
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.affiliation: Kobe Gakuin University Faculty of Rehabilitation, 518 Arise, Ikawadani-cho, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2180, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kajita
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8, Nishi-shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8, Nishi-shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Kobe Gakuin University Faculty of Rehabilitation, 518 Arise, Ikawadani-cho, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2180, Japan. Electronic address: maedak@reha.kobegakuin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Caregivers; Chalder Fatigue Scale; Dementia; Fatigue; Human herpesvirus 6; Psychological stress