Demented and chronic depressed patients attending a day hospital:Stress experienced by carers
H. Rosenvinge
Bok Engelsk 1998
| Utgitt | 1998
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| Omfang | Side 8- 11
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| Opplysninger | Objective. The main hypothesis was that carers of elderly patientsattending a day hospital with chronic depression experienceconsiderable stress. A subsidiary hypothesis was that this stress isequivalent to that experienced by carers of dementia patientsattending the same day hospital,Design. All attenders of the day hospital with a diagnosis ofdepression or dementia coresident with their principal carers,Setting. An urban psychogeriatric day hospital in the UK,Patients. A consultant diagnosis of dementia or depression with ahistory of present illness in excess of 12 months in patients over65. The total sample was 57, 32 dementia and 25 depression (19 majordepressive episode).Measures. Dementia patients: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE),Clifton Assessment Schedule (CAPE). Depressed patients: MMSE,Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and BriefPsychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Carers: Semi-structuredquestionnaire, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and RelativesStress Scale (RSS).Results. Dementia patients were older than depressed (75.66 vs71.84). The two groups were of comparable severity. The dementiacarers were significantly more stressed on the GHQ and RSS thandepression carers but these carers also exceeded the threshold forpsychiatric 'caseness'. Important negative views about life upset andcarer burden were expressed by both groups,Conclusions., The main hypothesis but not the subsidiary one issupported. More sophisticated study of the burden of caring forchronic depressive illness is required. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons,Ltd.
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