Caregiver Burden Among Adult-Child Caregivers of Persons With Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review

There are over 5 million persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States. An early symptom of this slowly progressive disease is characterized by short-term memory loss. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, there is loss of cognitive function, independence, often the development of psychotic disorders, and behavioral disorders. Persons diagnosed with the disease, their families and friends are all impacted on varied levels. As deterioration continues, persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease often rely upon family members to help them with their daily functioning. The complexities of this disease expose these family caregivers to chronic stressors that may impact them emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually. The amalgamation of these stressors is the caregiver burden. As the disease process continues, more time spent providing care is required resulting in progressively increased burden.

A systematic review of the literature was completed using PRISMA guidelines. CINAHL, PubMed, PsychINFO, and SCOPUS database were searched using the key terms of “Caregiver Burden” AND “Alzheimer’s” AND “Adult-child Caregiver.” Additional search factors included articles written in English and that were published between 2008 and 2019. The research question being asked in this review is “What differences in burden exist between adult-children and spouses who provide caregiving to a family member with Alzheimer’s disease and are there appropriate interventions that alleviate this burden while strengthening the caregiver’s ability to cope and extend their caregiving abilities?”

The majority of Alzheimer’s related care is provided by adult-children; however, most research studies focus on spouses. Studies that have included both spouses and children generally do not distinguish findings between these two groups. Studies that do differentiate between family relationship to the Alzheimer’s patient identify that differences exist relative to the types and extent of burden experienced. Stigma related to the disease process is shown to increase burden. Female caregivers report increased rates of depressive symptoms. Cohabitation increases burden. Interventions aimed at burden-reduction have been limited to date and rely upon resources generally unavailable to rural populations.