Impact of Confinement on the Burden of Caregivers of Patients with the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer Disease during the COVID-19 Crisis in France

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The clinical presentation of the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) differs from that of Alzheimer disease (AD), with major impairments in behavioral functions in bvFTD and cognitive impairment in AD. Both behavioral disturbances in bvFTD and cognitive impairment in AD contribute to caregiver burden. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To investigate the impact of home confinement during the COVID-19 crisis on the burden of caregivers of bvFTD or AD patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> During the COVID-19 lockdown in France, neurologists and neuropsychologists from the Memory Center of Nantes Hospital conducted teleconsultations for 38 AD patients and 38 bvFTD patients as well as for their caregivers. During these consultations, caregivers were invited to rate the change in their burden during home confinement. They were also invited to rate behavioral or emotional changes in the patients during, compared with before, the confinement. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Twenty-two bvFTD caregivers and 14 AD caregivers experienced an increase in burden. For bvFTD caregivers, this increased burden occurred regardless of behavioral changes, while AD caregivers experienced an increased burden related to changes in patients’ neuropsychiatric symptoms. Among the whole cohort, 2 factors were associated with increased caregiver burden: behavioral change and bvFTD. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The results demonstrate that during home confinement in the COVID-19 crisis, neuropsychiatric symptoms were the core factor that impacted caregiver burden in different ways depending on the disease.