EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Caregiver--Recipient Closeness and Symptom Progression in Alzheimer Disease. The Cache County Dementia Progression Study

Maria C. Norton, Kathleen W. Piercy, Peter V. Rabins, Robert C. Green, John C. S. Breitner, Truls Ostbye, Christopher Corcoran, Kathleen A. Welsh-Bohmer, Constantine G. Lyketsos and JoAnn T. Tschanz

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2009, vol. 64B, issue 5, 560-568

Abstract: Applying Rusbult's investment model of dyadic relationships, we examined the effect of caregiver--care recipient relationship closeness (RC) on cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer's disease. After diagnosis, 167 participants completed up to six visits, observed over an average of 20 months. Participants were 64% women, had a mean age of 86 years, and mean dementia duration of 4 years. Caregiver-rated closeness was measured using a six-item scale. In mixed models adjusted for dementia severity, dyads with higher levels of closeness (p < .05) and with spouse caregivers (p = .01) had slower cognitive decline. Effect of higher RC on functional decline was greater with spouse caregivers (p = .007). These findings of attenuated Alzheimer's dementia (AD) decline with closer relationships, particularly with spouse caregivers, are consistent with investment theory. Future interventions designed to enhance the caregiving dyadic relationship may help slow decline in AD. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbp052 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:geronb:v:64b:y:2009:i:5:p:560-568

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

More articles in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B from The Gerontological Society of America Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:64b:y:2009:i:5:p:560-568