Cited by 46Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNursing care and researchFamily Caregiving in Mental Illness

Perceived stress and depressive symptoms—not neuropsychiatric symptoms—predict caregiver burden in Alzheimer’s disease: A cross-sectional study

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Pinyopornpanish, Manee, Pinyopornpanish, Kanokporn, Soontornpun, Atiwat, Tanprawate, Surat, Nadsasarn, Angkana, Wongpakaran, Nahathai, Wongpakaran, Tinakon·2021·BMC Geriatrics

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Caregiver burden affects the caregiver's health and is related to the quality of care received by patients. This study aimed to determine the extent to which caregivers feel burdened when caring for patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and to investigate the predictors for caregiving burden. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. One hundred two caregivers of patients with AD at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, a tertiary care hospital, were recruited. Assessment tools included the perceived stress scale (stress), PHQ-9 (depressive symptoms), Zarit Burden Interview-12 (burden), Clinical Dementia Rating (disease severity), Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaires (neuropsychiatric symptoms), and Barthel Activities Daily Living Index (dependency). The mediation analysis model was used to determine any associations. RESULTS: A higher level of severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms (r = 0.37, p < 0.01), higher level of perceived stress (r = 0.57, p < 0.01), and higher level of depressive symptoms (r = 0.54, p < 0.01) were related to a higher level of caregiver burden. The direct effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms on caregiver burden was fully mediated by perceived stress and depressive symptoms (r = 0.13, p = 0.177), rendering an increase of 46% of variance in caregiver burden by this parallel mediation model. The significant indirect effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms by these two mediators was (r = 0.21, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Caregiver burden is associated with patients' neuropsychiatric symptoms indirectly through the caregiver's depressive symptoms and perception of stress. Early detection and provision of appropriate interventions and skills to manage stress and depression could be useful in reducing and preventing caregiver burden.

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  • The PHQ-9 has been extensively validated among family caregivers, including those supporting persons with dementia.

    “The PHQ-9 has been extensively validated among family caregivers, including those supporting persons with dementia (Alfakhri et al., 2018; Lou et al., 2015; Pinyopornpanish et al., 2021).”

    From Mindfulness and rumination: stress pathways for caregivers of persons living with dementia. (2026) · cites this paper as Pinyopornpanish et al., 2021

    The Methods (Participants and procedure) report using the PHQ-9 to assess depressive symptoms in caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The Methods (Measures) say the Thai version has good psychometric properties, but do not establish that the PHQ-9 has been extensively validated specifically among family caregivers or dementia caregivers. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Authors
Pinyopornpanish, M., Pinyopornpanish, K., Soontornpun, A., Tanprawate, S., Nadsasarn, A., Wongpakaran, N., & Wongpakaran, T.
Affiliations
Chiang Mai University (TH)
Corresponding author
Wongpakaran, Tinakon
Venue
BMC Geriatrics
Published
2021-03-12
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
180-180
ISSN
1471-2318 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3133784969
Cited by
46
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 2
FWCI
5.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Geriatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University (066-2561)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Caregiving in Mental Illness
Keywords
caregiver burden, Alzheimer's disease, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, neuropsychiatric symptoms, mediation, Zarit Burden Interview, PHQ-9, Clinical Dementia Rating, activities of daily living, family caregivers
MeSH terms
Caregiver Burden, Alzheimer Disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Humans, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Caregivers, Cost of Illness

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