Nō to shinkei = Brain and nerve
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Dementia patients need assistance or supervision in their daily activities. This often places a major burden on their caregivers. The caregiver burden is reportedly a critical determinant for negative caregiving outcomes. However, in Japan, no study evaluating the burden experienced by caregivers for patients with established dementia diagnosis with a standardized instrument has been carried out. The Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI) is a standardized, validated, reliable tool for assessment of the burden of caregivers for dementia patients, and has been used in many studies in North America. In this study, we arranged a Japanese version of the ZBI and applied it to caregivers who were caring dementia patients. After examining the reliability and validity of this version, we then studied a relationship between patients' impairments and caregivers' burden. ⋯ This Japanese version of the ZBI has a sufficient reliability and validity comparable to those reported for the original version. Our results suggested that the patients' functional and neuropsychiatric impairments were main patient's factors to increase the caregiver's burden.