Objective: To assess the impact on caretaker who looked after patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to identify the main factors related to their burden.
Methods: 115 consecutive pairs of PD patients and their caretakers were included. Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) was used to assess the burden of PD on the caretakers. Patients were evaluated by neurologists using the United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Hoehn and Yahr Scale (H-Y Scale), the Activity of Daily Living Scale (ADL), the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Multiple linear stepwise regression models were fitted to ascertain the factors linked to the CBI.
Results: Based on multiple linear stepwise regression analysis, ADL (β = -0.813, t = -6.265, P = 0.000) and PDQ-39 (β = 0.285, t = 4.256, P = 0.000) of patients and the age of caretakers (β = 0.327, t = 3.107, P = 0.002) proved to be the main predictors of CBI.
Conclusion: Many factors might comprehensively affect the burden of PD on caretakers of the patients. Attention needs to be given to the early identification of factors that generating stress on caretakers in order to improve their quality of life.