Tardive dyskinesia affects patients and caregivers

FRIDAY, Dec. 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Tardive dyskinesia (TD) poses a significant burden on both caregivers and patients, according to a study published online Nov. 28 in the Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, of Texas Tech University School of Medicine in the Permian Basin in Midland, and colleagues conducted an online survey to assess the burden of TD on the patient and caregiver. The analysis included 162 unpaid caregivers of patients diagnosed with TD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and/or major depressive disorder.

The researchers found that across physical and psychosocial domains, the majority of caregivers (82.7%) reported that DT had a severe impact on the patients they cared for, and 23.5% reported a severe impact of the disease on their own lives. Impact on caregivers included experiencing activity impairment (46.4%), and of the 136 employed caregivers, 49.5% experienced overall work impairment due to TD-related caregiving.

“Since personal caregiver burden is known to be a risk factor for anxiety in unpaid caregivers, these findings highlight the importance of recognizing the increased negative impact of TD on caregivers and may help health care providers develop assessment tools to comprehensively assess burden.” caregivers in TD,” the authors write. “These results also show that TD imposes a significant burden on caregivers’ professional lives, which should be taken into account when considering the social burden of TD.”

Several authors disclosed financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, including Teva; Research and development of Teva-branded pharmaceutical products funded the study

Summary/full text