The impact of COVID-19 confinement on the neurobehavioral manifestations of people with Major Neurocognitive Disorder and on the level of burden of their caregivers

The long-term consequences of confinement at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic are not yet known;however, an exacerbation of the neurobehavioral symptoms of patients with dementia and an increase in their caregiver burden are conceivable The aims of this study were to investigate any changes in the neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients with Major Neurocognitive Disorder as well as in the levels of burden and distress of their caregivers due to COVID-19 confinement, and to detect any relationship between the changes in patients and their caregivers A "pre-post" study was carried out by means of a semi-structured telephone interview, which was administered to 128 caregivers of patients with dementia The interview included patient and caregiver demographic information, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) Results showed an increased risk for burning out of caregivers by about 10% Statistically significant dijferences were found between the conditions prior to lockdown (pre-lockdown) and during lockdown in both the CBI and the NPI-Q distress scale Neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia significantly increased as well Results have a practical implication for the organization of public and private support services