Difference in determinants of caregiver burden between amnestic mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease

Care for the disabled elderly can be stressful and exhausting, especially in cases of dementia. There have been a number of studies on the dementia caregiver burden, but studies focusing on differences by stages of the disease are rare. The caregiver burden of 85 caregivers of patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 106 caregivers of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) was evaluated by the short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (sZBI). The caregiver burden in mild AD was more severe than that in aMCI. In mild AD, the risk factors of caregiver burden were neurobehavioral symptoms and disturbances instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), whereas the risk factors in aMCI were neurobehavioral symptoms and memory dysfunction. The severity of dementing disease affects the caregiver burden, and somewhat different factors contribute to the burden at different stages. We should pay attention to different factors in evaluating and reducing the caregiver burden in aMCI and mild AD.