Relationships between Quality of Life of the Alzheimer and Family Disease Burden and Social Support of Caregivers

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1006-7256.2019.01.010

Abstract：Objective: To explore the relationship between the quality of life of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the burden of family care, social support level and its influencing factors. Methods: A total of 114 AD patients and caregivers in outpatient or inpatient department of a tertiary A specialist hospital were selected. The quality of life of AD patients was evaluated by QOL-AD, the burden of family diseases (FBS) and social support scale (SSRS) , and the quality of life and social support of AD patients were analyzed by Pearson correlation. The relationship between family disease burden and social support level of caregivers was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.Results: The total scores of QOL-AD, FBS and SSRS were (31.15 ± 3.10) , (16.66 ± 8.92) and (25.55 ± 6.14) respectively in AD patients. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the total QOL-AD score of AD patients was negatively correlated with the total FBS score of caregivers (r =-0.412, P < 0.05) , and positively correlated with the total SSRS score of caregivers (r = 0.391, P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression showed that age, caregiver status, living conditions and whether accompanied by psycho-behavioral symptoms were the main factors affecting the quality of life of patients. Conclusion: The quality of life of AD patients is negatively correlated with their family disease burden and positively correlated with their social support level. Age, caregiver status, living conditions and whether accompanied by psycho-behavioral symptoms are the main factors affecting the quality of life of AD patients, which should be paid attention to it.