RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of early stage of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) on caregiver burden with disease severity, duration, disability and psychiatric symptoms. METHODS: 30 IPD patient (15 female, 15 male) - caregiver (18 female, 12 male) pairs participated in the study. Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) scale was used to provide the assessment of disease progression and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used for assessing disability and impairment. Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory (ZCBI) was used to ascertain the distress experienced by caregivers. Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) was performed on both patient and caregiver groups to evaluate anxiety and depression. Depressive symptoms of both groups were also measured by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Patients' psychotic symptoms were assessed using the part 1- mentation, behavior and mood section of UPDRS. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate dementia symptoms and Short Form-36 (SF-36) was also used to assess quality of life. RESULTS: We found significant correlation between caregiver burden with disease severity and duration. There was a significant difference between high UPDRS scores and the caregiver's will for placing her/his patient in a long-term institution. Patients who had depression risk according to BDI had also high UPDRS scores. Patients with off period had higher UPDRS scores and lower SF-36 subdomains of general health, physical functioning, emotional role and social functioning. CONCLUSION: IPD is a chronic, progressive neuro- degenerative disease and comprises substantial burden on patients, families of patients and caregivers. The disease duration and disability have a remarkable impact on caregiver burden. For the good quality of caregiving, protective therapies should be recommended for caregivers if needed.