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Abstract Background: Caregiver burden is the stress experienced as a result of caregiving. Despite the increasing number of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients who are cared for at home, little has been published about the caregiver burden pertaining to caregivers of early‐onset AD patients. The objective of this study was to examine the difference between the genders with respect to the careburden of early‐onset AD caregivers. Methods: Twenty‐four patients with early‐onset AD and their caregivers participated in this study. Dementia severity, caregiver's burden, depressive mood and behavioral disturbance were measured and examined. Results: There was no significant difference between female and male caregivers in terms of careburden or depressive mood. However, when correlations were considered, female caregivers showed significant associations between careburden and the patient's age. Associations between the subscales of careburden were also shown for female caregivers. However. there was no significant correlation between the subscales of careburden and dementia severity and the number of behavioral problems for either female or male caregivers. Depression scores showed only correlations with the subscales of careburden for female caregivers. Conclusion: The present study examined the difference between the genders with respect to the care burden experienced by caregivers of early‐onset AD patients. The results reinforce those of previous studies in that female caregivers are more likely to experience careburden than male caregivers. The present study indicates the importance of mental health support for female caregivers.
Takano et al. (Thu,) studied this question.