Caregivers’ burden and needed support for the care of dementia patients attending Ain Shams University hospitals

Abstract

Background The Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-5 (DSM-5) characterizes dementia as a substantial impairment in one or more cognitive domains (memory, communication, language, attention, reasoning, and visual perception). This impairment must be sufficient to interfere with independence in everyday activities, not exclusively during delirium or explained by another mental disorder. (Edition F. DSM-5, 2013) In Egypt, the prevalence of dementia among individuals aged ≥50 years was estimated to be 2.01%-5.07%. (Elshahidi et al., 2017). In USA, the number of aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) by mid‐century may grow to 13.8 million. This represents a steep increase from the estimated 5.7 million Americans who have Alzheimer's dementia today. Abstract Background: Dementia in la te stages affects pat ients ’ l i fe l ike being dependent, malnourished, having psychological and sleep problems. Caregivers face physical , f inancial , medical , and psychological b urdens and are in need for support to complete caregiv ing responsibi l i t ies . Not al l caregivers have the suf f ic ient knowledge regarding how dementia af fects the pat ients.