Objective:Caregivers to persons with dementia (PWD) consistently report lower sleep quality than non-caregiving controls. Low sleep quality, in addition to being unhealthy for the caregiver, may also impact the quality of care provided to the PWD. One factor that may contribute to poor sleep among caregivers is neurobehavioral symptoms (NBS) of the PWD. NBS, such as mood changes, lack of motivation, and disinhibition, are consistently rated as some of the most distressing symptoms by caregivers. Furthermore, they can include some symptoms related to sleep, such as nighttime wandering and REM sleep behaviors. Prior correlational research indicates a very strong association between NBS of the PWD and sleep quality of the caregiver. However, there are third variables, particularly demographics of the caregiver, which may better explain this relationship. When these variables are controlled in research, findings on the association between PWD NBS and caregiver sleep quality are mixed. Thus, we sought to investigate the relation between PWD NBS and caregiver sleep quality while controlling for caregiver demographics.Participants and Methods:Fifty caregivers to PWD completed a survey containing the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist as a measure of PWD NBS, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index as a measure of caregiver sleep quality, and caregiver demographics. The relationship between PWD NBS and caregiver sleep quality was assessed using hierarchical linear regression. First, we examined the relationship between caregiver demographics (age, gender, income) and caregiver sleep quality. Second, we added NBS to the model to assess for incremental predictive utility by examining change in R2.Results:A significant correlation was found between PWD NBS and caregiver sleep quality, with higher PWD NBS associated with worse caregiver sleep quality (r(48) = .34, p = .014). A hierarchal regression found that caregiver demographics explained a non-significant proportion of variance in reported caregiver sleep quality (F(3, 44) = 1.05, p = .382, R2 = .07). When PWD NBS was added in model two, there was a significant change in variance explained in the overall model (F(1,43) = 2.65, p = .046, AR2 = .13, R2 = .20). Across both models, PWD NBS was the only variable significantly associated with caregiver sleep quality (B = .08, p = .011).Conclusions:In line with previous studies, these results indicate a moderate relationship between PWD NBS and caregiver sleep quality. Furthermore, findings suggested that PWD NBS is a risk factor for poor caregiver sleep quality, above and beyond caregiver demographic characteristics. Individuals designing interventions aimed at improving caregiver sleep quality should consider including PWD NBS as an intervention target. Future research should replicate these findings in a longitudinal sample to further evaluate causality.

中文翻译：

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74 痴呆症的神经行为症状是护理人员睡眠质量差的危险因素

目的：痴呆症患者 (PWD) 的护理人员一致报告睡眠质量低于非护理对照组。睡眠质量低除了对护理人员不利之外，还可能影响为残疾人提供的护理质量。可能导致护理人员睡眠不佳的因素之一是残疾人的神经行为症状 (NBS)。NBS，例如情绪变化、缺乏动力和抑制解除，一直被护理人员评为最令人痛苦的症状之一。此外，它们还可能包括一些与睡眠相关的症状，例如夜间游走和快速眼动睡眠行为。先前的相关研究表明，残疾人的 NBS 与护理人员的睡眠质量之间存在很强的关联。然而，还有第三个变量，特别是护理人员的人口统计数据，可以更好地解释这种关系。当这些变量在研究中得到控制时，关于残疾人 NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量之间关系的研究结果是好坏参半。因此，我们试图调查 PWD NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量之间的关系，同时控制护理人员的人口统计数据。 参与者和方法：50 名 PWD 护理人员完成了一项调查，其中包含轻度行为障碍清单，作为 PWD NBS（匹兹堡睡眠质量指数）的衡量标准作为护理人员睡眠质量和护理人员人口统计的衡量标准。使用分层线性回归评估 PWD NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量之间的关系。首先，我们研究了看护者人口统计数据（年龄、性别、收入）与看护者睡眠质量之间的关系。其次，我们将 NBS 添加到模型中，通过检查 R 的变化来评估增量预测效用2结果：PWD NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量之间存在显着相关性，较高的 PWD NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量较差相关 (r(48) = .34，p=.014）。分层回归发现，看护者人口统计数据解释了报告的看护者睡眠质量中不显着的方差比例 (F(3, 44) = 1.05，p= .382，R2= .07)。当模型二中添加 PWD NBS 时，整个模型中解释的方差发生了显着变化 (F(1,43) = 2.65，p= .046，AR2= .13，R2= .20）。在这两个模型中，PWD NBS 是唯一与看护者睡眠质量显着相关的变量 (B = .08，p= .011)。结论：与之前的研究一致，这些结果表明 PWD NBS 与护理人员睡眠质量之间存在中等关系。此外，研究结果表明，残疾人 NBS 是导致护理人员睡眠质量差的一个危险因素，其程度超出了护理人员的人口统计特征。设计旨在改善看护者睡眠质量的干预措施的个人应考虑将 PWD NBS 作为干预目标。未来的研究应该在纵向样本中复制这些发现，以进一步评估因果关系。