Factors related to Caregiver Burden in Caregivers of Patients with Parkinson’s disease in Mumbai, India

This study examined the relationship of caregiver burden with various patient and caregiver variables. 50 individuals with Parkinson’s Disease were administered the Movement Disorder Society’s Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Hoehn and Yahr’s Scale (HY), Mini Mental Status examination (MMSE), and their caregivers were administered the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Kruskal Wallis ANOVAs and Mann Whitney U tests showed that caregivers suffering from ill health (Ux=402, p= 0.03) and the patients’ MDS-UPDRS scores significantly affected caregiver burden. Simultaneous multiple regression analysis showed that MDS-UPDRS Part I,II and III were significant predictors of burden (R2= 0.72, p<0.0001) of which the motor examination emerged as the most significant predictor of burden.