This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0891988708316857v1 21/3/159    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Beaudreau, S. A. Articles by Gallagher-Thompson, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beaudreau, S. A. Articles by Gallagher-Thompson, D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Relationship Between Objectively Measured Sleep Disturbance and Dementia Family Caregiver Distress and Burden

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, sherryb{at}stanford.edu, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Palo Alto

Adam P. Spira

Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, University of California, San Francisco

Heather L. Gray, BA

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto

Colin A. Depp

James Long, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto

Mark Rothkopf, BA

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego California

Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto

The aim of this study was to determine whether distress and burden were associated with objective measures of sleep disturbance in dementia caregivers. Using wrist actigraphy, sleep was measured in 60 female, Caucasian dementia family caregivers (mean age, 64.8 years). Caregivers completed questionnaires about demographics, health, depression, duration of caregiving and care recipient nighttime behavior. Care recipients completed a mental status exam. We investigated whether these measures were associated with actigraphic sleep parameters. Greater depressive symptoms among caregivers were associated with poorer sleep efficiency. Older caregiver age and poorer self-rated health were associated with longer time in bed. Sleep disturbance, which is common among dementia caregivers, might be an important index of caregiver distress (ie, depression) but might not be associated with burden (based on the care recipient's general cognitive impairment or nighttime awakenings.)

Key Words: actigraphy • sleep • caregiving • dementia

This version was published on September 1, 2008

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, Vol. 21, No. 3, 159-165 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0891988708316857


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?