title: Patient's Loss of Empathy Is Associated With Caregiver Burden.
abstract: Patients benefit from the presence of empathic caregivers (CGs). In this regard, empathy toward the patient is one of the clinical targets for improving patient outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the impact of patients' empathic responses on the CGs' burden. Among people living with Parkinson's disease (PwP), care partners play a major role. This study involved 28 spouse-patient couples. Empathy, stress burden, and mood disorders (such as anxiety and depression) were assessed over a 6-month period, before and after the reported intervention. Our observation points out that the improvement of patient empathy is necessary for a significant burden reduction among spouses caring for PwP.
authors: *Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Teaching Hospital "Agostino Gemelli," Rome, Italy; †Sobell Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; ‡Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University; and §Institutes of Psychiatry and Psychology and ‖Institute of Neurology, Department of Neuroscience, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors: Massimiliano
authors: M
authors: Pomponi
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Ricciardi
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: La Torre
authors: Domenico
authors: D
authors: Fusco
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Morabito
authors: Diego
authors: D
authors: Ricciardi
authors: Annamaria
authors: A
authors: Di Gioia
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Bernabei
authors: Anna Rita
authors: AR
authors: Bentivoglio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology