Quality of life and burden in caregivers for patients with PD

Parkinson's disease (PD) does not only affect PD patients themselves but also affects their caregivers. PD caregivers perform a range of tasks and can spend many hours a day caring. Caregiver outcomes are assessed predominantly in terms of quality of life (QoL) and burden. The QoL of caregivers is generally lower than that of the general population. A number of caregiver or patient variables have been found to be significantly related to caregiver QoL and burden. Due to the burden of caregiving and its impact on QoL, it is important to assess caregiver outcomes and to support and educate caregivers to maintain QoL and reduce the burden. Various instruments have been used to assess PD caregiver QoL and burden. Of particular interest are two recently developed measures of PD caregiver outcomes: the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire - Carer, a QoL measure for PD caregivers, and the Parkinson's Disease Caregiver Burden questionnaire. To date, a few well-designed interventions have been conducted to help alleviate caregiver burden.