The current state of family caregiver burden and support of toilet problems for elderly with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To conduct an exploratory examination of caregiver burden involving toilet problems in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related characteristics.

Methods: We included 50 outpatients with amnestic MCI and AD and their caregivers. Patients were subclassified into three groups: MCI, mild AD, and moderate/severe AD. We used the Japanese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (J-ZBI) to evaluate caregiver burden and conducted a questionnaire on the frequency of lower urinary tract symptoms and related caregiver burden. We compared the frequency of questionnaire items with the level of burden in each group and subsequently determined the J-ZBI correlation coefficient.

Results: Among the questionnaire items, the caregiver's burden of "increased daytime urinary frequency," "nocturia," "urinary incontinence," and "they cannot clean the toilet" statistically significantly correlated with J-ZBI scores (ρ = 0.52, 0.65, 0.79, and 0.83, respectively). Items including "they cannot clean the toilet," "the smell of excrement is bothersome," "assistance for transfer is necessary," "they soil the clothes and bed," and "they cannot clean the genital region" were significantly more common in the patient group with moderate/severe AD.

Conclusions: Lower urinary tract symptoms and toilet problems were significantly correlated with caregiver burden. Toilet problems differ depending on the severity of dementia. Therefore, a support system based on dementia severity is required to address toilet problems.