Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Review Article Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2008;26:138–146 DOI: 10.1159/000149584 Patient and Caregiver Perspectives of Quality of Life in Dementia An Investigation of the Relationship to Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia Catherine Hurt a Sarmishtha Bhattacharyya b Alistair Burns b Vincent Camus d Rossella Liperoti g Anna Marriott c Flavio Nobili h Philippe Robert e Magda Tsolaki i Bruno Vellas f Frans Verhey j Eleanor Jane Byrne b a King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, b Division of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Manchester, and c Kingshill Research Centre, Victoria Hospital, Swindon, UK; d Clinique Psychiatrique Universitaire, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire, Tours, e Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche au CHU, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, and f Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; g Centro Medicina dell’Invecchiamento, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, and h Clinical Neurophysiology Service, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; i Memory and Dementia Centre, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; j University Hospital of Maastricht, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Limburg, The Netherlands whilst delusions and apathy indicated lower patient ratings. Carers were found to be poor at identifying antecedents and consequences of BPSD. Conclusions: The presence of BPSD is associated with lower quality of life in dementia. Interven- tions designed to improve the quality of life for patients should focus on the BPSD specifically associated with the patient’s rating of quality of life. Information regarding the role of contextual factors in behaviour management should be made available to carers. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) represent a heterogeneous group of non-cogni- tive symptoms and behaviours. In 1999, the Internation- al Psychogeriatric Association Consensus Group defined BPSD as: ‘Symptoms of disturbed perception, thought content, mood or behaviour that frequently occur in pa- tients with dementia’ [1] . The lifetime risk of such symp- Key Words Quality of life  Dementia, behavioural and psychological symptoms  Alzheimer’s disease  Antecedents, behaviour and consequences  Patient report  Carer report Abstract Background/Aims: Behavioural and psychological symp- toms have a high prevalence amongst patients with demen- tia and can be a significant source of distress to both patients and carers. The present study explored the relationships be- tween quality of life and behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) from both patient and carer perspectives. Contextual factors surrounding the occur- rence of BPSD were explored. Methods: Forty-six patients and 116 carers completed questionnaire measures of BPSD and quality of life. Results: BPSD were negatively associated with both patient and carer ratings of patient quality of life. The symptoms related to lower quality of life differed be- tween patient and carer ratings: depression and irritability were found to predict lower carer ratings of quality of life, Accepted: May 12, 2008 Published online: August 4, 2008 Dr. Catherine Hurt King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry Department of Psychology PO77 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF (UK) Tel. +44 20 7848 0923, Fax +44 20 7848 5006, E-Mail Catherine.hurt@iop.kcl.ac.uk © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel 1420–8008/08/0262–0138$24.50/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/dem Downloaded by: 84.30.137.15 - 4/29/2014 9:10:38 PM