Self-Reports of Abuse by Family Caregivers of Patients with Dementia

Patients with dementia who are victims of abuse might be unwilling or unable to inform healthcare providers about the abuse. Investigators in the U.K. sought to determine the prevalence of abuse of patients with dementia by family caregivers. Psychiatrists interviewed 220 consecutive caregivers who provided 4 or more hours of care per week to a parent (54%), a spouse (33%), or another relative or friend (13%) who was living at home and was newly referred to secondary psychiatric services with dementia (mean patient age, 82). Caregivers were asked to report the frequency with which they acted in each of five psychologically and five physically abusive ways during the past 3 months on a Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (all the time).

Overall,…