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Effects of a home-based exercise program on mental health for caregivers of relatives with dementia: a randomized controlled trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2020

Miguel Madruga Open the ORCID record for Miguel Madruga [Opens in a new window] ,
Margarita Gozalo ,
Josué Prieto ,
Paloma Rohlfs Domínguez  and
Narcís Gusi
Miguel Madruga*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
Margarita Gozalo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
Josué Prieto
Affiliation:
University School of Tourism and Education, University of Salamanca, Ávila, Spain
Paloma Rohlfs Domínguez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
Narcís Gusi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Miguel Madruga, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Av. de la Universidad S/N, 10071Cáceres, Spain. Phone +34 927257460. Email: miguelmadruga@unex.es.
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Abstract

Objective:

This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based physical exercise program on participants’ mental health: psychological symptoms, depression, and burden of female informal caregivers.

Design and participants:

In a randomized controlled trial, a sample of 48 female informal primary caregivers completed the entire study, 25 were randomly allocated to the intervention group (IG), and 23 participants to the control group (CG).

Intervention:

Participants in the IG performed two 60-minute-long physical exercise sessions per week (36 weeks) that were supervised by a personal trainer at caregivers’ home during 9 months. The CG continued their habitual leisure-time activities.

Measurements:

Subjective burden was assessed by the Zarit Burden Interview. The risk of depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form 15-item version, and psychological symptoms were evaluated by the Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). All participants were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the intervention.

Results:

A promising positive impact of the intervention on caregivers’ subjective burden and risk of depression was found in the IG. In addition, no significant between-group differences were found in any of nine subscales scores of the SCL-90-R. Finally, care recipients’ level of functional independence and area of residence were found to be predictors of the promising positive impact on caregivers’ subjective burden and risk of depression.

Conclusions:

The present home-based physical exercise intervention that was individually implemented has shown promising results to reduce subjective burden and risk of depression in female caregivers of relatives with dementia. However, future research efforts should elucidate both the particular dose of physical exercise and the particular duration of the intervention that are required to obtain the expected significant positive impact. Finally, future inclusion of psychological approaches, besides physical exercise, might help reduce female caregivers’ psychological symptoms.

Keywords

caregiverdementiahome-based interventionmental healthphysical exerciserisk of depressionsubjective burden
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 33 , Special Issue 4: Issue Theme: Caring for Caregivers of People with Dementia , April 2021 , pp. 359 - 372
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2020

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