Burden of caregivers for patients with mild cognitive impairment in Japan

Background: Caregivers of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) already experience a need for increased services comparable to that of individuals caring for Alzheimer's disease patients. However, there have been only a few studies on the MCI caregiver burden. In this study, we examined MCI caregiver burden in a larger number of consecutive outpatients in Japan. Methods: One hundred and four consecutive caregivers of people with MCI participated in this study. The caregiver burden was evaluated by the short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (sZBI). Results: About 20% of the caregivers reported a clinically significant burden. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the caregiver burden was significantly associated with neurobehavioral symptoms (p < 0.001) and memory problems (p = 0.022) of the patient. Conclusions: The caregiver burden of MCI patients should be given more attention. The management of neurobehavioral symptoms may be important to reduce the burden on caregivers of MCI patients.