This analysis of a real-world population of community-dwelling patients with AD and their informal caregivers found that caregiver time spent on iADL and requirement for supervision were significantly higher for caregivers of patients with diabetes versus without diabetes. Although a consistent general increase in caregiver time on basic ADL, iADL, and total caregiver time was observed for caregivers of patients with diabetes, this effect was only statistically significant for iADL, possibly due to the variability within the dataset.
These results for caregiver time are in line with those of Langa et al. [24], who found that elderly Americans with diabetes required more time for informal care than those without diabetes, and indicate that this effect is also observed in patients with AD dementia who generally require more care than the general population of a similar age group.
The impact of patient diabetes status on caregiver burden was more evident for objective measures (caregiver time) than the subjective measure, ZBI score. A trend towards increased ZBI score was observed for caregivers of patients with versus without diabetes, but this small difference (+1.6) is unlikely to have significant real-life impact for the caregiver. This is in line with previous data suggesting that diabetes was not predictive of subjective burden in caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly patients in Japan, measured using the Japanese version of the ZBI [23]. A comparative analysis also found caring for patients with cancer or dementia was associated with greater physical strain and emotional stress than caring for those with diabetes or for frail elderly people [36]. It is possible that the burden of caring for a person with AD dementia subsumes any added burden associated with diabetes. Feil et al. [22] reported a high level of subjective burden (according to the 4-item version of the ZBI) in caregivers of patients with both dementia and diabetes, but the sample size was small (N = 21) and the absence of a comparator group meant that it was not possible to assess the extent to which diabetes added to the burden of caring for someone with dementia alone.
Patient and caregiver HCRU was unaffected by patient diabetes status. However, HCRU data were based on the month before baseline only. Meaningful between-group differences may be observed over a longer period of time of prospective data capture, particularly on hospitalizations and ER visits which are expected to have a generally low base rate over a single month. Caregiver HCRU has previously been shown to be affected by several aspects of AD dementia [37], and our analysis provides new data regarding the effects of patient and caregiver diabetes in this population.
Analyses based on the subgroup of patients with mild/moderate AD dementia, found no consistent effects of patient diabetes status on burden, caregiver time, or caregiver or patient HCRU, suggesting that differences between the diabetes groups in the overall population were driven by the patients with moderately severe/severe AD dementia. This finding is consistent with our prior analysis showing that better patient functioning is associated with lower caregiver burden and fewer supervision hours in GERAS [21], although we did not adjust for functional status in our analysis. As patients with moderately severe/severe AD dementia would generally function at a lower level than patients with mild/moderate AD dementia, they would consequently be unlikely to be able to manage their own diabetes, thus increasing the time required from the caregiver. Caregivers of patients with mild/moderate AD dementia may also provide most care around mealtimes and bed times, which may coincide with any requirement for them to assist with diabetes treatment and blood glucose monitoring.
In the main analyses, time and burden were unaffected by caregiver diabetes status; again caregiver time was based on the month before baseline only (ZBI score reflected the subjective burden reported at the baseline visit). We had anticipated that caregivers with diabetes would report greater burden than those without diabetes, due to the added burden of managing their own diabetes along with the patient’s AD dementia; however, our results did not support this hypothesis. The reasons are unclear, but may be related to the small number of caregivers who had diabetes in this study. It is also possible that caregivers who have diabetes themselves and are already comfortable with managing their condition do not perceive the management of the patient’s diabetes as a significant additional burden; however, the study sample size was too small to allow a further subanalysis.
Caregivers with diabetes had increased odds of having outpatient visits for their own health care than caregivers without diabetes, which could be expected for people with chronic conditions. Other aspects of caregiver HCRU were not associated with caregiver diabetes status, regardless of the dementia severity of the AD patients under their care.
Strengths
We used data from a large prospective observational study of community-dwelling patients with AD across a wide range of dementia severity groups in three European countries. This allowed a post-hoc exploratory analysis of the effects of diabetes on burden, as reported by caregivers of these patients, in a real-world setting.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to directly assess whether diabetes affects burden, time spent on caregiving, or HCRU in caregivers of patients with AD. Our findings add to those from other studies that have identified many factors that influence burden in caregivers of patients with AD [21, 38, 39]. Although we found no significant effect of patient diabetes on caregiver burden as assessed by ZBI, there was an increase in caregiver time requirement for patients with versus without diabetes.
Several standard measures of caregiver burden were assessed, including the well-recognized ZBI and caregiver time and HCRU were assessed using the standardized RUD instrument.
Limitations
Although our study provides valuable new data, it has several limitations which provide a possible focus for future studies.
This was a post-hoc exploratory analysis, and a cross-sectional assessment of baseline data. Results may be different if a longitudinal perspective were to be used, and this would also allow an assessment of the effect of diabetes on caregiver burden and patient and caregiver HCRU over time. It would also identify whether the early differences in caregiver time measures translate to increased perceived burden recorded using the ZBI measure over a longer period.
HCRU information for the month prior to enrollment was based on caregivers’ report only and did not include information from medical records or claims data.
The self-reporting of diabetes status (or caregiver-reporting for some patients) in the GERAS study may limit the reliability of the information provided as the use of self-reported diabetes is generally considered to underestimate the actual prevalence, which includes a proportion of undiagnosed cases [40]. However, our patient diabetes prevalence of 12.6 % is in line with the 13–14 % seen in the largest studies reviewed by Bunn et al. [10] regarding diabetes prevalence in people with dementia, although reported prevalences ranged from 6 to 39 % [10]; diabetes prevalence data in this review were obtained from medical records and/or clinical examination. The older age of the patients in our study and/or presence of AD, may explain the expected higher diabetes prevalence in patients than in caregivers (12.6 and 8.5 %, respectively). Furthermore, we did not collect information on whether diabetes was type 1 or type 2, so are unable to confirm whether these proportions are in line with those seen typically for the different diabetes types. Links between cognition in AD dementia and both types of diabetes have been reported [41].
No information was obtained regarding the type or dosage of glucose-lowering medications or the level of diabetes control. It is possible that differences in burden/time existed regarding, for example, whether or not patients were receiving insulin and/or the amount of monitoring needed. Several aspects of diabetes care have been reported as being difficult to perform or supervise due to the patient’s dementia, particularly adherence to diabetes-related exercise regimes and dietary requirements [22]. Informal caregiver time was higher for elderly patients with diabetes who used insulin, compared with those taking no medication or oral medication in the study by Langa et al. [24]. However, although diabetes itself did not independently predict burden in the study by Hirakawa et al. [23], community-dwelling frail elderly patients with diabetes who were not taking medication required a higher degree of care compared with those taking diabetes medication or those without diabetes; these patients (with diabetes and no medication) were also more likely to suffer from hypertension and dementia. Patients with diabetes who were taking insulin used more transportation (and therefore required more time) than those on no or oral medication [23]. Effects of caregiver diabetes status on burden may also vary depending on their diabetes type, treatment, and severity.
Treating complications associated with diabetes may also increase caregiver burden. As data regarding specific diabetes-related complications were not collected in the GERAS study, we were also unable to assess whether such complications influenced our results. Increased emotional burden has previously been shown in caregivers of diabetes patients with foot ulcers [42].
Suggestions for future research
This study provides new data on the overall effect of diabetes on subjective burden, time and HCRU in caregivers of patients with AD. Future research should include longitudinal analyses, assessing the change in these factors over time, and could consider the influence of various aspects of diabetes in order to inform appropriate support that could be given to patients and caregivers. Several diabetes-related issues (e.g., restricting intake of inappropriate foods, using a glucose meter, and providing assistance with oral medication) have been associated with objective burden in caregivers of patients with both schizophrenia and diabetes [43], and with subjective burden in caregivers of patients with both dementia and diabetes [22]. It is also possible that less time-consuming options for diabetes treatment and monitoring may offer a potential way to reduce burden, by reducing the time spent by the caregiver on iADL. This may include simplified treatment regimens, such as taking fewer medications, less frequent injections, or use of medical devices that allow for more automated monitoring and insulin administration. Such measures may also improve medication adherence and diabetes control in patients with dementia, who are less likely to receive their recommended annual monitoring for diabetes and may have poorer access to diabetes services [10, 44, 45]. Potential effects of other comorbidities in both patients and caregivers could also be examined: observational studies are likely to show greater heterogeneity in comorbidity data, compared with those from randomized clinical trials, and are therefore best suited to this type of analysis. The effect on caregiver health of caring for patients with diabetes and AD could also be investigated.
Further research, such as that identified, could provide opportunities to guide appropriate caregiver support strategies and policies. Improved support and education regarding diabetes care adjustments could potentially lessen caregiver burden [22]. As well as simplifying the patient’s medication as much as possible, the effects of additional help, such as assistance from professional caregivers or other family members to provide respite for the primary caregiver, also require consideration.