नैदानिक ​​मनोरोग खुला एक्सेस

अमूर्त

Neuropsychiatric symptoms due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and the Impact on their Caregivers

Tatiana Dimitriou, Mara Koustimpi, Vasiliki Kamtsadeli, Maria Hatzopoulou, Athina Zagka, Athina Grigoriou, Kostas Siarkos, John D Papatriantafyllou

Objectives: The COVID‐19 has a profound impact on patients and caregivers of people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to their cognitive and functional impairments. BPSD tend to increase with such external stressors.
Methods: A telephone-based or videoconferencing survey was administered in 43 caregivers of patients with MCI who they confined to their homes for nearly 2 months, and they were taking care from Day Care Center IASIS. The survey took place twice. We used the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI) and asked caregivers to report whether patients experienced any change in the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia (BPSD) once at the beginning of the quarantine and once at the end of it. The same measurement was used in order to evaluate the BPSD of the participants after the interventions and after the quarantine. NPI inventory also assessed the caregivers’ distress.
Results: A significant increase in BPSD in MCI patients with the caregivers’ burden was recorded. The intervention strategy that was found to eliminate the BPSD was occupational therapy strategies.
Conclusions: The confinement seems to impact neuropsychiatric symptomatology in dementia patients. Cognitive training, physical exercise, and occupational strategies can be an alternative model of care for the BPSD in MCI and dementia patients during the pandemic.