Caregivers' quality of life in mild and moderate dementia.

Objective: To investigate quality of life (QoL) of caregivers of mild and moderate dementia and the aspects related to QoL.

Method: Cross-sectional assessment of dyads of people with dementia (PwD) and family caregivers (n=88).

Results: Burden (p<0.05) and depressive symptoms (p<0.001) were related to caregivers' QoL in both stages of dementia. In mild dementia, caregivers' depressive symptoms (p<0.001) and PwD neuropsychiatric symptoms (p<0.001) were related to burden. PwD aberrant motor activity (p<0.001) and anxiety (p<0.001), and caregiver-reported QoL domains of friends (p<0.001) and mood (p<0.05) were related to depressive symptoms. In moderate dementia, self-reported QoL (p<0.01) and anxiety (p<0.01), and PwD anxiety (p<0.01) were related to burden. Caregivers' anxiety (p<0.001) and self-reported QoL (p<0.001) were related to depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: Burden and depressive symptoms were related to QoL of caregivers of mild and moderate dementia. However, they are driven by different factors according to dementia severity.