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The Development of a Rapid Screen for Caregiver Burden
Author(s) -
Hirschman Karen B.,
Shea Judy A.,
Xie Sharon X.,
Karlawish Jason H. T.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2004.52468.x
Subject(s) - medicine , caregiver burden , depression (economics) , geriatric depression scale , center for epidemiologic studies depression scale , gerontology , internal consistency , disease burden , mental health , scale (ratio) , cross sectional study , psychometrics , psychiatry , clinical psychology , disease , dementia , depressive symptoms , cognition , pathology , economics , macroeconomics , physics , quantum mechanics
Objectives: To develop a shortened screen for burden associated with caring for a patient with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Design: Cross‐sectional. Setting: The Memory Disorders Clinic of an AD center. Participants: Two hundred fifty‐one AD patient‐caregiver dyads. Measurements: Screen for Caregiver Burden (SCB), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, Medical Outcomes Short Form, Mini‐Mental State Examination, and patient and caregiver characteristics. Results: At least 25% of the sample endorsed eight of the 25 items in the SCB subjective burden (SB) scale. Of these eight items with a prevalence of 25% or greater endorsement, seven items had item‐total correlations of 0.55 or greater. The shortened seven‐item SCB SB had an alpha of 0.86, indicating that the shortened scale has good internal consistency (Full SCB SB α=0.88). The seven‐item SCB SB was highly associated with depression and overall mental health measures. Conclusion: This shortened version of the SCB allows a clinician to rapidly assess the burden associated with caregiving for a person with AD.