Association Between Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Caregiver Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Care

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia impact diagnosis and caregiver burden. Informal caregivers effectively identify cognitive changes and confirm the care receiver’s symptoms. This study aims to examine the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms in primary care users with probable dementia and caregiver burden and depression, as reported by informal caregivers, and describe the most frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms in this population. This cross-sectional study included 101 primary care users aged 65+ with mental health concerns identified by their General Practitioner and informal caregivers, excluding those in institutional care, without memory concerns and an informal caregiver, or without Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) data. The sample (79.4 ± 7.7 years) was 53.5% female, 33.7% had no formal education, and 60.4% presented probable dementia per Global Deterioration Scale. The NPI-Q total score and the distress dimension score were 10.1 (sd = 5.6) and 11.9 (sd = 9.1), respectively. The most reported symptoms were agitation/aggression (69.3%) and apathy/indifference (65.3%). We found a significant positive association between NPI-Q total and Distress scores and Caregiver Burden Scale, 0.296 (p = 0.023) and 0.417 (p < 0.001), and between NPI-Q total and Distress scores and AB Clinician Depression Screen, 0.227 (p = 0.023) and 0.416 (p < 0.001). Probable dementia was linked to more neuropsychiatric symptoms and greater caregiver burden and depression. Training for caregivers can improve the quality of care and, as a result, may reduce burnout and depression.