Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: There were inadequate studies to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in informal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease(AD) in Malaysia. This study aimed to evaluate the HRQoL in informal caregivers of AD along with its predictors.
METHODS: The 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was utilized to evaluate HRQoL of 132 caregivers providing informal care for AD patients in fourtertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Sociodemographic of both patients and caregivers were assessed as well as the time spent in informal care via structured questionnaire. Summary scores of each SF-36 domains, Physical Composite Score (PCS) and Mental Composite Score (MCS) were compared with population norm in Malaysia. Forward stepwise multiple linear regression was conducted to identify significant factors influencing caregivers’ HRQoL.
RESULTS: With the mean PCS (51.19±9.25) and MCS (44.17±11.19), a declining trend was observed along with increasing disease severity in the study population. Besides the domain of physical functioning, a significant decline was detected in all remaining seven SF-36 domains compared to Malaysia general population. In multivariable models, demand in BADL and increasing caregivers’ age were negatively correlated with PCS. Female caregiver and male patient were found to negatively affect caregivers’ HRQoL in physical and mental aspects, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Informal caregivers of patients with AD demonstrated diminished overall well-being regardless of physical or mental aspects. These findings highlight the important of adequate resource and social support to improve their HRQoL among caregivers providing informal care for AD.