Socijalna psihijatrija, Vol. 44 No. 2, 2016.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Prevalence of anxiety and depressive simptoms in family and professional caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease
Zrnka Kovačić Petrović
orcid.org/0000-0001-8763-9090
; Klinika za psihijatriju Vrapče i Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Senka Repovečki
; Klinika za psihijatriju Vrapče, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The family and professional caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) are exposed to
increased stress. Because the family members have insufficient knowledge about the disease and on how
to deal with the demented persons but spend a lot of time with them, we hypothesize that they have a
higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms than professional caregivers. The aim of our study
was to examine the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in family and professional caregivers
of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and
the anxiety and depressive symptoms of those persons. Our prospective study included 50 family caregivers
of persons with severe AD, who were in psychiatric outpatient treatment and were not hospitalized during
the last 6 months, as well as professionals involved in the treatment of persons with severe AD during
hospitalization. We applied the Sociodemographic questionnaire and the Croatian version of the self-rating
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The results showed that the family caregivers were statistically
significantly more anxious and depressed than professional caregivers. Living with the person with Alzheimer’s disease influenced higher anxiety in family caregivers. Greater working internship statistically
significantly influenced the appearance of depressive symptoms in professional caregivers. In conclusion,
the investigation showed a higher stress burden and impact in family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s
disease than in professional caregivers. Anxiety and depressive symptoms influenced their quality of life.
Ključne riječi
Alzheimer’s dementia; family and professional caregivers; anxious and depressive symptoms
Hrčak ID:
162822
URI
Datum izdavanja:
3.6.2016.
Posjeta: 2.373 *