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Dementia and caregiver burden: A three-year longitudinal study
Connors MH, Seeher K, Teixeira-Pinto A, Woodward M, Ames D, Brodaty H.. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2019-12-10
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objectives Dementia, with its progressive cognitive and functional decline and associated neuropsychiatric symptoms, places a large burden on caregivers. While frequently studied, longitudinal findings about the overall trajectory of burden are mixed. The study sought to characterize caregiver burden over a 3-year period and identify predictors of this burden. Methods Seven-hundred-and-eighty-one patients with dementia were recruited from nine memory clinics around Australia. Measures of caregiver burden, cognition, function, and neuropsychiatric symptoms were completed with patients and their caregivers at regular intervals over a 3-year period. Patients' level of services and medication use were also recorded. Results Of the 720 patients with measures of caregiver burden at baseline, 47.4% of caregivers had clinically significant levels of burden. This proportion increased over time, with 56.8% affected at 3 years. Overall levels of burden increased for caregivers of patients without services, though did not change for caregivers of patients receiving services or residential care after controlling for other variables. Patient characteristics-including greater neuropsychiatric symptoms, lower functional ability, fewer medications, lack of driving ability-and female sex of caregivers were associated with greater burden. Conclusions High levels of caregiver burden are present in a large proportion of caregivers of people with dementia and this increases over time for those without services. Clinical characteristics of patients (including neuropsychiatric symptoms, function, overall health, driving status), level of services, and caregiver sex appear to be the best predictors of this burden. These characteristics may help identify caregivers at greater risk of burden to target for intervention.
Key findings
- While frequently studied, longitudinal findings about the overall trajectory of burden are mixed.
- Results Of the 720 patients with measures of caregiver burden at baseline, 47.4% of caregivers had clinically significant levels of burden.
- Overall levels of burden increased for caregivers of patients without services, though did not change for caregivers of patients receiving services or residential care after controlling for other variables.
- Patient characteristics-including greater neuropsychiatric symptoms, lower functional ability, fewer medications, lack of driving ability-and female sex of caregivers were associated with greater burden.
- Clinical characteristics of patients (including neuropsychiatric symptoms, function, overall health, driving status), level of services, and caregiver sex appear to be the best predictors of this burden.
Why it matters
This three-year study found that caregiver burden was common and increased over time for caregivers of patients not receiving services, while it did not change for those receiving services or residential care. It identifies factors linked to greater burden but does not test a treatment for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants720
- Effect size47.4%; 56.8%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 66/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International journal of geriatric psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: journal h-index 190 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 720 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 264 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 33.0 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 11.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 14 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 151 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Henry Brodaty: h-index 127 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Sydney: institution h-index 1,466 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31821606) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 66 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Connors, M. H., Seeher, K., Teixeira-Pinto, A., Woodward, M., Ames, D., & Brodaty, H. (2020). Dementia and caregiver burden: A three-year longitudinal study. International journal of geriatric psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5244
Vancouver
Connors MH, Seeher K, Teixeira-Pinto A, Woodward M, Ames D, Brodaty H. Dementia and caregiver burden: A three-year longitudinal study. International journal of geriatric psychiatry. 2020. doi:10.1002/gps.5244. PMID: 31821606.
BibTeX
@article{connors2020-31821606,
author = {Connors, M. H. and Seeher, K. and Teixeira-Pinto, A. and Woodward, M. and Ames, D. and Brodaty, H.},
title = {{Dementia and caregiver burden: A three-year longitudinal study}},
journal = {International journal of geriatric psychiatry},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1002/gps.5244},
pmid = {31821606},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5244}
}
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