Can the NPI Inventory (Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire-Nursing Homes version by Cummings) be used for estimating the professional disruptiveness of the professional caregivers with regard to the total number of the demented elderly they care for?
Can the researcher ask the professional caregivers questions about their total patient population or just questions about a specific patient? If it is the second, how can we generalize the findings to the total nursing home population?
You might find this reference helpful:
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;21(1):50-6.
Dementia patients caregivers quality of life: the PIXEL study.
Thomas P, Lalloué F, Preux PM, Hazif-Thomas C, Pariel S, Inscale R, Belmin J, Clément JP.
Source
University Department of Psychogeriatrics & Memory Clinic CH Limoges, France. [email protected]
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Alzheimer's disease and related syndromes have heavy social and human consequences for the patient and his family. Beyond the neuropsychiatric effects of specific therapies for dementia, one of today's challenges is the quality of life for both patients and their informal caregivers.
OBJECTIVES:
This survey tends to determine parameters influencing caregivers' quality of life, and its possible link with patients' quality of life.
METHODS:
A scale measuring caregivers' quality of life, developed from data from previous PIXEL studies was used. It is a questionnaire composed of 20 items. The scale was related to the socio-demographic data of both patients and their main caregivers, to the ADRQL scale (Alzheimer Disease Related Quality Life) of Rabins for the QoL of dementia patients, to the patients medical and therapeutic data, specially a neuropsychological inventory: Folstein's cognition test, Cornell's depression scale, the fast battery of frontal assessment, Katz's dependence index, Cummings' neuropsychiatric inventory for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and to a physician evaluation of caregiver's depression.
RESULTS:
One hundred patients diagnosed with dementia who live at home with their principal caregivers were recruited for this survey. Patients were 80.2 +/- 6.8 years old and caregivers were 65.7 +/- 12.8 years old. The caregivers' quality of life was correlated to the quality of life of the patients they cared for, the importance of behavioral disorders, and the duration of dementia evolution. Women caregivers had a worse quality of life and were more depressive than men.
DISCUSSION:
Caregivers' and patients' quality of life are related and both share a community of distress.
Also, you may find this reference helpful:
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;21(1):50-6.
Dementia patients caregivers quality of life: the PIXEL study.
Thomas P, Lalloué F, Preux PM, Hazif-Thomas C, Pariel S, Inscale R, Belmin J, Clément JP.
Source
University Department of Psychogeriatrics & Memory Clinic CH Limoges, France. [email protected]
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Alzheimer's disease and related syndromes have heavy social and human consequences for the patient and his family. Beyond the neuropsychiatric effects of specific therapies for dementia, one of today's challenges is the quality of life for both patients and their informal caregivers.
OBJECTIVES:
This survey tends to determine parameters influencing caregivers' quality of life, and its possible link with patients' quality of life.
METHODS:
A scale measuring caregivers' quality of life, developed from data from previous PIXEL studies was used. It is a questionnaire composed of 20 items. The scale was related to the socio-demographic data of both patients and their main caregivers, to the ADRQL scale (Alzheimer Disease Related Quality Life) of Rabins for the QoL of dementia patients, to the patients medical and therapeutic data, specially a neuropsychological inventory: Folstein's cognition test, Cornell's depression scale, the fast battery of frontal assessment, Katz's dependence index, Cummings' neuropsychiatric inventory for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and to a physician evaluation of caregiver's depression.
RESULTS:
One hundred patients diagnosed with dementia who live at home with their principal caregivers were recruited for this survey. Patients were 80.2 +/- 6.8 years old and caregivers were 65.7 +/- 12.8 years old. The caregivers' quality of life was correlated to the quality of life of the patients they cared for, the importance of behavioral disorders, and the duration of dementia evolution. Women caregivers had a worse quality of life and were more depressive than men.
DISCUSSION:
Caregivers' and patients' quality of life are related and both share a community of distress.
The NPI-Q (whether it's the original or the version for use in NH by professional caregivers) is meant to describe the abnormal behaviors seen in an individual patient, and asks about the level of distress experienced by the caregiver for that specific symptom (e.g., hallucinations). It will not measure what you are apparently looking for, which is job-related stress due to taking care of a group of demented individuals.
Thank you very much for the articles. I'll find the fulltexts and check on the reseach tools used by the authors, although the family caregivers studied in these articles care for a specific patient and they answer questions regarding him/her.
Your answer is highly appreciated and is actually what I was expecting to get, so I have to find or develop a tool measuring the neuropsychiatric symptoms of populations of demented patients.
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