Depression and apathy of patients with stroke and Parkinson's disease and their families

For patients needing intensive care, nursing by family living together has a very important factor. However, nursing persons themselves tend to lose their QOL due to mental fatigue caused by long-term nursing circle D This survey was conducted to investigate how the mental burden and apathy of patients and their co-living family develop, on the basis of SDS and apathy scale as judging standard. The results were arranged by the daily life self-supporting degree of patients by the Ministry of Health and Welfare standard and disease groups (stroke: 24 patients of higher brain dysfunction and 85 patients of hemiplegia, Parkinson's disease: 35 patients). Results are as follows. (1) Depression of patients tends to be stronger than that of nursing persons. (2) In Parkinson's disease group, depression tendency develops as the symptoms develop. (3) In all groups, depression of both patients and nursing persons most develops at self-supporting degree B (just before bed-ridden level). It is suggested that escalating depression and apathy of higher brain dysfunction group is due to further progressing mental burden originated from higher brain dysfunction.