Objective: Analyze the impact of interoceptive awareness deficits on caregiver burden in Parkinson’s disease.

Background: Interoceptive awareness (IA) is the ability to perceive and process internal  signals, regulating bodily homeostasis. Previous studies reveal that people living with PD (PwP) exhibit reduced IA. An altered IA in PwP could affect the effective communication of their needs, potentially increasing the caregiver’s burden. However, the relationship between these factors remains unclear.

Method: A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study was conducted. Sociodemographic data were collected, including age, gender, and education in years. Clinical variables included PD duration, as well as Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), MDS-UPDRS, MDS-NMS, 39-item PDQ-39, and 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Data analysis with Jamovi included Mann-Whitney U, chi-square test, comparing by gender. A multiple linear regression model was developed, to evaluate MAIA subdomains’ influence over caregiver burden by ZBI as outcome variable.

Results: 37 PwP (51.4% male, 63.2±11.1 years) were included. Mean ZBI score was 29.4±9.1 [descriptive analysis is shown in table 1]. The multiple linear regression (Adjusted R2=0.954) showed the MAIA not worrying, emotional awareness and attention regulation subdomains (β = -0.55, p < 0.001, β = 0.39, p = 0.003, β = 0.49, p = 0.003, respectively) had a significant impact on caregiver burden [Table 2]. Additional variables associated with ZBI included depression, cognition, psychosis and gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with lower caregiver burden, while pain and motor complications increased it. Trends toward significance were observed for impulse control disorders and sleep disturbances (p = 0.072, p = 0.063).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that IA influences caregiver burden in PwP. Higher perception, body listening, emotional awareness, motor complications, and pain are associated with greater caregiver burden, while depression and psychosis are linked to lower burden. These findings underscore the importance of IA as a key factor in designing interventions to alleviate caregiver burden and enhance PwP care.

Table 1

Table 2

References: 1. Wang RL, Chang RB. The Coding Logic of Interoception. Annu Rev Physiol. 2024 Feb 12;86:301–27.
2. Ricciardi L, Ferrazzano G, Demartini B, Morgante F, Erro R, Ganos C, et al. Know thyself: Exploring interoceptive sensitivity in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Sci. 2016 May 15;364:110–5.
3. Goel A, Narayan SK, Sugumaran R. Neuropsychiatric Features, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Caregiver Burden in Parkinson’s Disease. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2022;25(6):1147–52.
4. Ransmayr G. [Caregiver burden in patients with Parkinson’s disease]. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr. 2020 Sep;88(9):567–72.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/studying-the-relationship-between-interoceptive-awareness-caregiver-burden-and-disease-perception-in-parkinsons-disease/