Development of biomarkers showing care burden of families with dementia people and family intervention program

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26461758
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Kobe Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Maeda Kiyoshi 神戸学院大学, 総合リハビリテーション学部, 教授 (80116251)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 認知症 / 家族介護者 / 介護負担 / 家族介入プログラム / ヒトヘルペスウイルス / バイオマーカー / 疲労 / ストレス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined chronic fatigue in family caregivers for people with dementia.　Forty-four family caregivers (CG) and 50 elderly control (NCG) participated in this study. We measured salivary human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 and -7 DNA levels and　CFS to assess levels of fatigue; we also measured CES-D, Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly, ZBI　etc.
For CG, HHV-6 DNA levels and CFS scores were significantly higher than those in NCG. HHV-6 DNA levels in CG were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms, the cognitive function of the patients, and ADL/IADL of the patients. The CFS scores in CG significantly correlated with caregiver burden, depression symptoms, leisure physical activity and the number of other family caregivers.
HHV-6 DNA levels may be added as a new biomarker for caregiver exhaustion. We concluded that fatigue assessments should be performed by not only a questionnaire, but also by a biomarker search, such as HHV-6.

Free Research Field

精神医学