INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 02 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 08:00 am - 09:15 am Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 02: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1 Final Abstract #64 Exploration of Caregiver Communications in a Memory Clinic: Factor Analytic Structure and Associations with Dementia Severity and Caregiver Burden John Martin, Kent State University, Kent, United States Elizabeth Cousins-Whitus, Kent State University, Kent, United States Karlee Patrick, Kent State University, Kent, United States Kimberly Chapman, Brown University, Providence, United States Jennifer Drost, Summa Health System, Akron, United States Mary Beth Spitznagel, Kent State University, Kent, United States Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease) Keyword 1: caregiver burden Keyword 2: dementia - Alzheimer's disease Objective: Informal dementia caregivers often provide assistance for day-to-day tasks, including communication with the care recipient’s healthcare providers. Prior research demonstrates links between caregiver communications and both dementia severity and the experience of burden in the caregiver; however, work to date has shown weak or non-directional relationships. It is likely that caregivers contact healthcare providers for a variety of reasons, including routine (e.g., administrative tasks) and non-routine (e.g., behavioral problems) concerns. If routine and non-routine communications are differentially related to dementia severity and caregiver burden, the strength of these relationships might be obscured. We sought to clarify factors underlying themes of caregiver communications, predicting two factors of communication would emerge (i.e., routine and non-routine). We expected non-routine communications would be more strongly associated with both dementia severity and caregiver burden. Participants and Methods: Data from 510 patient-caregiver dyads enrolled in a clinical registry of an outpatient memory clinic were examined. Information was extracted from the initial intake records pertaining to caregiver burden, measured by the Zarit Burden Interview, and dementia severity, assessed through three proxies including neuropsychiatric symptoms (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory), interview-based activities of daily living, and brief measures of global cognition (MMSE or MoCA, normed and combined into a single variable). Two independent raters recorded the frequency and themes of caregiver communications during the subsequent 12 months. Results: Principal axis factoring was used to examine the underlying structure of caregiver communication themes. Two factors emerged: 1) Non-Routine communications, accounting for 33.5% of the total variance, representing themes of behavioral problems, medication questions and requests, and resources) and 2) Routine communications, accounting for 15.7% of the total variance, representing themes of administrative requests, general medical questions, driving concerns, test results, and other concerns/questions. Dementia severity was significantly correlated with both Non-Routine communications (r = .26, p < .001) and Routine communications (r = .14, p < .01). Fisher’s Z test revealed that dementia severity was significantly more strongly related to Non-Routine versus Routine communications (z = 1.99, p < .05). Caregiver burden was also significantly correlated with both Non-Routine (r = .11, p < .05) and Routine communications (r = .15, p < .05), but the magnitude of these correlations did not differ (z = -.63, p = .53). Conclusions: The expected factor structure of caregiver communications was confirmed. Similar to past work, the magnitude of relationships observed among variables was generally weak. Results suggest that progression of dementia severity may result in more Non-Routine caregiver communications. Implications of the current work include the potential use of caregiver communication frequency (particularly when Non-Routine) as a signal to the healthcare team that re-evaluation or treatment changes are needed. Future work should examine dementia severity and caregiver burden data over time to more fully understand these relationships in the context of dementia progression and caregiving of longer duration.

Poster

02/15/2024
08:00 am - 09:15 am
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 02: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1

Final Abstract #64

Exploration of Caregiver Communications in a Memory Clinic: Factor Analytic Structure and Associations with Dementia Severity and Caregiver Burden

John Martin, Kent State University, Kent, United States
Elizabeth Cousins-Whitus, Kent State University, Kent, United States
Karlee Patrick, Kent State University, Kent, United States
Kimberly Chapman, Brown University, Providence, United States
Jennifer Drost, Summa Health System, Akron, United States
Mary Beth Spitznagel, Kent State University, Kent, United States

Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease)

Keyword 1: caregiver burden
Keyword 2: dementia - Alzheimer's disease

Objective:

Informal dementia caregivers often provide assistance for day-to-day tasks, including communication with the care recipient’s healthcare providers. Prior research demonstrates links between caregiver communications and both dementia severity and the experience of burden in the caregiver; however, work to date has shown weak or non-directional relationships. It is likely that caregivers contact healthcare providers for a variety of reasons, including routine (e.g., administrative tasks) and non-routine (e.g., behavioral problems) concerns. If routine and non-routine communications are differentially related to dementia severity and caregiver burden, the strength of these relationships might be obscured. We sought to clarify factors underlying themes of caregiver communications, predicting two factors of communication would emerge (i.e., routine and non-routine). We expected non-routine communications would be more strongly associated with both dementia severity and caregiver burden.

Participants and Methods:

Data from 510 patient-caregiver dyads enrolled in a clinical registry of an outpatient memory clinic were examined. Information was extracted from the initial intake records pertaining to caregiver burden, measured by the Zarit Burden Interview, and dementia severity, assessed through three proxies including neuropsychiatric symptoms (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory), interview-based activities of daily living, and brief measures of global cognition (MMSE or MoCA, normed and combined into a single variable). Two independent raters recorded the frequency and themes of caregiver communications during the subsequent 12 months.

Results:

Principal axis factoring was used to examine the underlying structure of caregiver communication themes. Two factors emerged: 1) Non-Routine communications, accounting for 33.5% of the total variance, representing themes of behavioral problems, medication questions and requests, and resources) and 2) Routine communications, accounting for 15.7% of the total variance, representing themes of administrative requests, general medical questions, driving concerns, test results, and other concerns/questions. Dementia severity was significantly correlated with both Non-Routine communications (r = .26, p < .001) and Routine communications (r = .14, p < .01). Fisher’s Z test revealed that dementia severity was significantly more strongly related to Non-Routine versus Routine communications (z = 1.99, p < .05). Caregiver burden was also significantly correlated with both Non-Routine (r = .11, p < .05) and Routine communications (r = .15, p < .05), but the magnitude of these correlations did not differ (z = -.63, p = .53).

Conclusions:

The expected factor structure of caregiver communications was confirmed. Similar to past work, the magnitude of relationships observed among variables was generally weak. Results suggest that progression of dementia severity may result in more Non-Routine caregiver communications. Implications of the current work include the potential use of caregiver communication frequency (particularly when Non-Routine) as a signal to the healthcare team that re-evaluation or treatment changes are needed. Future work should examine dementia severity and caregiver burden data over time to more fully understand these relationships in the context of dementia progression and caregiving of longer duration.