Co-Occurring Neuropsychiatric Conditions and Functional Status: Associations with Caregiver Quality of Life in Older Veterans

Steven D Shirk,1– 3 Victoria Ngo,1 Elizabeth S Chamberlin,1 Elizabeth E Marfeo,4 Bret L Hicken,5,6 Lauren R Moo1,7 1New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (NE GRECC), VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA; 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Chan Medical School, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA, USA; 3Research Service, VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA; 4Department of Community Health, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA; 5VA Office of Rural Health (ORH), Veterans Rural Health Resource Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 6Department of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 7Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USACorrespondence: Lauren R Moo, New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (NE GRECC), Bedford VA Healthcare System, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA, Email lauren.moo@va.govObjective: This study examined the impact of a care recipient’s level of daily functioning and the presence of co-occurring neuropsychiatric conditions on caregiver Quality of Life (QoL).Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 504 informal caregivers of U.S. veterans aged 65 years and older. Measures included caregiver QoL, care recipient functioning, and questions regarding the care recipient’s neuropsychiatric conditions. Hierarchical linear regression analyses examined relationships between these variables while adjusting for important sociodemographic factors.Results: Caregivers of veterans with a neuropsychiatric condition (54.0% of the sample) reported lower QoL than those caring for veterans without such conditions. In hierarchical linear regression, ADL functioning (β =0.15, p =0.002) and the presence of a neuropsychiatric condition (β = − 0.11, p =0.021) independently predicted poorer caregiver QoL, while adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Within the subgroup of participants with neuropsychiatric conditions, depression emerged as the only condition significantly associated with reduced caregiver QoL (β = − 0.19, p =0.001), even after adjusting for functional status.Conclusion: Our findings highlight the significant negative impact of care recipient functional limitations and depression on caregiver QoL and contribute to our broader understanding of how care recipient characteristics affect caregiver outcomes among older adult populations.