Family caregivers’ assessment of symptoms in persons with dementia using the GBS-scale: differences in rating after psychosocial intervention – an 18-month follow-up study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics at baseline (n = 262)

	Intervention group n = 129	Control group n = 133	P value
Family caregivers
Mean age, years (SD)	61 (12.9)	62 (12.6)	0.94
Women %	58	65	0.28
Educational level
Upper secondary school or less %	44	56
University and university colleges %	57	43	0.05
Relationship
Spouses %	30	24
Adult children %	70	76	0.32
Persons with dementia
Mean age, years (SD)	84 (5.7)	85 (5.9)	0.06
Women %	77	74	0.57
Living alone %	68	74	0.31
MMSE mean score (SD)	19 (5.2)	18 (5.0)	0.12
GBS subscales, mean score (SD)
Intellectual	16.8 (9.3)	22.8 (10.7)	<0.001
Emotional	2.4 (2.0)	4.4 (3.4)	<0.001
ADL	5.8 (6.1)	7.2 (6.3)	0.07
Berger scale
Low severity of dementia %	72	46
High severity of dementia %	28	54	<0.001
Katz index of ADL
Low dependency %	77	71
High dependency %	23	29	0.33

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; MMSE, mini-mental state examination; GBS, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen; ADL, activity of daily living. of the intervention group compared to <50% in the controls

Table 2 GBS (Gottfries-Bråne-Steen) subscales mean scores and mean differences at baseline and follow-ups (n = 262)

GBS subscales	Mean score (SD) baseline			Mean difference (SD) 6 months			Mean difference (SD) 12 months			Mean difference (SD) 18 months
	Intervention n = 129	Control n = 133	P	Intervention n = 115	Control n = 105	P	Intervention n = 96	Control n = 89	P	Intervention n = 76	Control n = 68	P
	GBS-I Intellectual 12 items (score 0–72)	16.8 (9.3)	22.8 (10.7)	<0.001	12.7 (11.0)	5.3 (9.9)	<0.001	14.8 (11.4)	10.0 (12.9)	0.02	15.8 (11.4)	11.6 (13.6)	0.06
GBS-E Emotional 3 items (score 0–18)	2.4 (2.0)	4.4 (3.4)	<0.001	2.9 (3.5)	0.9 (3.4)	<0.001	3.8 (4.8)	2.3 (4.0)	0.04	3.6 (3.7)	2.6 (4.8)	0.19
GBS-ADL Activities of daily living 6 items (score 0–36)	5.8 (6.1)	7.2 (6.3)	0.07	4.2 (6.5)	2.1 (4.3)	0.01	4.8 (5.8)	4.3 (5.0)	0.53	6.0 (6.4)	5.6 (5.6)	0.68

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Mean scores at baseline and mean differences at follow-ups for surviving patients at 18 months (Intervention [I] n = 76, Control [C] n = 68)

	Mean score (SD) baseline			Mean diff (SD) 6 mths			Mean diff (SD) 12 mths			Mean diff (SD) 18 mths
	I	C	P	I	C	P	I	C	P	I	C	P
	n = 76	n = 68		n = 76	n = 68		n = 76	n = 68		n = 76	n = 68
GBS-I
Personal orientation	1.2 (1.1)	1.1 (1.0)	0.57	0.1 (1.4)	0.3 (1.0)	0.26	0.3 (1.4)	0.6 (1.4)	0.24	0.6 (1.9)	0.8 (1.2)	0.44
Orientation in time	2.8 (1.6)	3.3 (1.5)	0.10	0.4 (1.7)	0.1 (1.6)	0.44	0.5 (1.6)	0.8 (1.7)	0.42	0.7 (1.6)	0.6 (1.9)	0.87
Orientation in space	1.8 (0.9)	1.2 (1.1)	0.001	−0.7 (1.6)	0.7 (1.4)	0.003	0.4 (1.5)	1.2 (1.6)	0.006	0.5 (1.2)	1.3 (1.6)	0.003
Recent memory	2.4 (0.9)	3.5 (1.1)	<0.001	1.4 (1.7)	0.3 (1.4)	<0.001	1.4 (1.5)	0.5 (1.4)	0.001	1.5 (1.6)	0.5 (1.3)	<0.001
Distant memory	1.9 (0.9)	2.1 (1.2)	0.23	0.5 (1.4)	0.4 (1.3)	0.94	0.8 (1.4)	0.7 (1.6)	0.68	0.9 (1.4)	0.9 (1.5)	0.90
Wakefulness	0.1 (0.3)	0.6 (1.0)	<0.001	0.9 (1.3)	0.7 (1.5)	0.50	1.0 (1.4)	1.0 (2.0)	0.88	1.3 (1.6)	1.0 (1.9)	0.24
Concentration	1.7 (0.9)	2.1 (1.4)	0.06	1.2 (1.6)	0.4 (1.6)	0.007	1.2 (1.6)	0.8 (1.6)	0.17	1.3 (1.4)	1.2 (1.9)	0.68
Ability to increase tempo	1.8 (1.0)	2.5 (1.1)	<0.001	0.9 (1.4)	0.1 (1.3)	0.003	1.1 (1.2)	0.4 (1.7)	0.03	1.2 (1.4)	0.6 (1.6)	0.03
Absentmindedness	0.4 (1.0)	1.8 (1.7)	<0.001	2.2 (1.8)	0.8 (2.0)	<0.001	2.2 (1.9)	1.4 (2.2)	0.03	2.5 (1.9)	1.6 (2.2)	0.02
Long-windedness	0.5 (1.1)	1.8 (1.8)	<0.001	1.9 (2.0)	0.7 (2.0)	0.001	2.3 (2.1)	1.2 (2.1)	0.006	2.3 (2.1)	1.1 (2.1)	0.002
Distractibility	0.4 (0.9)	1.5 (1.4)	<0.001	1.9 (1.5)	0.5 (1.5)	<0.001	2.0 (1.4)	1.1 (1.8)	0.003	2.1 (1.8)	1.1 (1.7)	0.003
Language disturbance	0.6 (0.9)	0.9 (1.2)	0.07	0.7(1.4)	0.5 (1.0)	0.30	0.9 (1.4)	0.9 (1.6)	0.77	0.9 (1.6)	1.0 (1.5)	0.82
GBS-E
Emotional blunting	0.2 (0.6)	1.2 (1.3)	<0.001	1.1 (1.2)	0.4 (1.5)	0.005	1.3 (1.3)	0.9 (1.4)	0.13	1.4 (1.4)	0.8 (1.8)	0.02
Emotional lability	0.1 (0.4)	0.6 (0.8)	<0.001	0.7 (1.3)	0.5 (1.1)	0.21	0.9 (1.4)	0.8 (1.4)	0.62	0.9 (1.5)	0.9 (1.7)	0.91
Reduced motivation	1.9 (1.3)	2.0 (1.7)	0.55	1.1 (2.0)	0.4 (1.9)	0.07	1.3 (4.0)	0.8 (2.2)	0.34	1.2 (1.9)	0.9 (2.2)	0.43
GBS-ADL
Dressing	0.8 (1.5)	0.5 (1.3)	0.27	0.5 (1.7)	0.5 (1.4)	0.91	0.8 (1.7)	1.1 (1.5)	0.26	1.2 (1.7)	1.1 (1.7)	0.39
Food intake	0.2 (0.7)	0.3 (0.9)	0.46	0.1 (1.1)	−0.03 (0.7)	0.41	0.3 (0.8)	0.3 (1.1)	0.86	0.5 (1.1)	0.5 (1.3)	0.91
Physical activity	0.5 (1.3)	1.0 (1.7)	0.02	0.4 (1.2)	0.6 (1.0)	0.66	0.6 (1.4)	0.5 (1.2)	0.67	0.9 (1.3)	0.6 (1.1)	0.19
Spontaneous activity	1.3 (1.1)	1.3 (1.3)	0.96	0.8 (1.4)	0.7 (1.4)	0.94	0.9 (1.8)	1.0 (1.3)	0.76	1.4 (1.6)	1.1 (1.5)	0.39
Personal hygiene	1.4 (1.3)	1.5 (1.6)	0.57	0.8 (1.3)	0.6 (1.2)	0.60	0.8 (1.5)	1.1 (1.2)	0.26	1.3 (1.6)	1.2 (1.3)	0.65
Control of bladder and bowel	0.8 (1.4)	1.4 (2.0)	0.05	0.6 (1.6)	0.2 (1.7)	0.15	0.8 (1.7)	0.8 (2.0)	0.92	1.0 (1.9)	0.7 (2.1)	0.47

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; mths, months; GBS-I, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-intellectual; GBS-E, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-emotional; GBS-ADL, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-activity of daily living; I, intervention; C, control.

Figure 1 Mean differences of the ratings in the GBS-I, GBS-E, and GBS-ADL subscales by the family caregivers in the intervention group and control group, between baseline and 6, 12 and 18 months respectively for the survivors.

Abbreviations: GBS-I, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-intellectual; GBS-E, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-emotional; GBS-ADL, Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale-activity of daily living; mths, months.