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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Caregiver burden as a short-term predictor of weight loss in older outpatients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease
— a three months follow-up study | | Author(s) | Claudio Bilotta, Luigi Bergamaschini, Rossana Arienti |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 14, no 4, May 2010 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis, May 2010 |
| Pages | pp 481-488 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Stress ; Dementia ; Out-patients ; Weight ; Malnutrition ; Correlation ; Longitudinal surveys ; Italy. |
| Annotation | Can caregiver burden (CB) be an independent predictive factor of weight loss in older outpatients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD)? This question was considered in a prospective cohort study of 105 Italians aged 70+ affected by mild to moderate AD and living at home with the assistance of at least one informal caregiver, who consecutively underwent a multidimensional geriatric assessment. Body weight was re-evaluated at a three month follow-up, from December 2008 to April 2009. Those who experienced a weight loss greater than 3% of the baseline weight constituted the 'weight loss' group. Out of the 97 older participants attending follow-up, 22 (23%) had experienced a weight loss of more than 3%. At a multivariate logistic regression analysis, a greater CB at baseline, defined by a score of the caregiver burden inventory scale in the highest tertile (i.e. 36+ out of 96), turned out to predict weight loss at three months (odds ratio (OR) 13.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.91-101.33, p = 0.009), independently of other factors associated with the 'weight loss' group such as age, functional dependence and the risk of malnutrition estimated by means of the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF). (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-100827220 A |
| Classmark | P6: QNH: EA: LFB: 4X6: CSM: 49: 3J: 76V |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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