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Family caregivers of people with dementia
Brodaty H, Donkin M.. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 2009-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Family caregivers of people with dementia, often called the invisible second patients, are critical to the quality of life of the care recipients. The effects of being a family caregiver, though sometimes positive, are generally negative, with high rates of burden and psychological morbidity as well as social isolation, physical ill-health, and financial hardship. Caregivers vulnerable to adverse effects can be identified, as can factors which ameliorate or exacerbate burden and strain. Psychosocial interventions have been demonstrated to reduce caregiver burden and depression and delay nursing home admission. Comprehensive management of the patient with dementia includes building a partnership between health professionals and family caregivers, referral to Alzheimer's Associations, and psychosocial interventions where indicated.
Key findings
- Psychosocial interventions have been demonstrated to reduce caregiver burden and depression and delay nursing home admission.
Why it matters
This review reports that psychosocial interventions have been shown to reduce caregiver burden and depression and delay nursing home admission for people with dementia. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 46 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 48 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dialogues in clinical neuroscience) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience: journal h-index 154 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2009 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,628 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 85.7 citations a year over 19 year(s) since 2009 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 481 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Marika Donkin holds only 4 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | UNSW Sydney: institution h-index 1,101 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19585957) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 46 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 46 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 48 out of 100. |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Brodaty, H., & Donkin, M. (2009). Family caregivers of people with dementia. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience.
Vancouver
Brodaty H, Donkin M. Family caregivers of people with dementia. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience. 2009. PMID: 19585957.
BibTeX
@article{brodaty2009-19585957,
author = {Brodaty, H. and Donkin, M.},
title = {{Family caregivers of people with dementia}},
journal = {Dialogues in clinical neuroscience},
year = {2009},
pmid = {19585957}
}
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