Contributions
Abstract: EP1430
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - Economic burden
Introduction: The caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) may present with the so-called caregiver burden syndrome. The Zarit Scale has been applied in prior studies. However, this scale was designed for caregivers of patients with dementia, and patients with MS constitute a population with different symptoms.
Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of a version of the Zarit Scale tailored for the caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
Method: We drafted 10 questions related to symptoms specific to Multiple Sclerosis that may lead to discomfort in caregivers, which were incorporated into the Zarit Scale. This version was administered to 40 informal caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis along with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the Stait Trait Anxiety Inventory, and an actual patient dependency scale.
Results: Caregivers had a mean age of 52.1 years (SD = 18); 58% were women. The modified Zarit Scale had a Cronbach´s Alpha of .97; Guttman´s split-half was .95, and all item-total correlations were >.50. Positive Pearson´s correlations >.60 were found between the scale and total NPI, the NPI of caregiver burden, and the actual dependency scale and BDI-II. An abridged version with 16 questions comprising the items with the highest discrimination power had a Cronbach´s Alpha of .95, and similar correlations as the ones found with the full version, with NPI of the caregiver, dependency and BDI-II.
Discussion: Although the study population is small, the data suggest that both the full and the abridged versions of the scale are adequate to measure the burden of the caregivers of patients with MS, showing adequate reliability and convergent validity rates. Conducting further studies with this population will provide a better understanding of the psycho-social issues that trigger caregiver stress in this population.
Disclosure: The authors have nothing to disclose
Abstract: EP1430
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - Economic burden
Introduction: The caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) may present with the so-called caregiver burden syndrome. The Zarit Scale has been applied in prior studies. However, this scale was designed for caregivers of patients with dementia, and patients with MS constitute a population with different symptoms.
Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of a version of the Zarit Scale tailored for the caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
Method: We drafted 10 questions related to symptoms specific to Multiple Sclerosis that may lead to discomfort in caregivers, which were incorporated into the Zarit Scale. This version was administered to 40 informal caregivers of patients with Multiple Sclerosis along with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the Stait Trait Anxiety Inventory, and an actual patient dependency scale.
Results: Caregivers had a mean age of 52.1 years (SD = 18); 58% were women. The modified Zarit Scale had a Cronbach´s Alpha of .97; Guttman´s split-half was .95, and all item-total correlations were >.50. Positive Pearson´s correlations >.60 were found between the scale and total NPI, the NPI of caregiver burden, and the actual dependency scale and BDI-II. An abridged version with 16 questions comprising the items with the highest discrimination power had a Cronbach´s Alpha of .95, and similar correlations as the ones found with the full version, with NPI of the caregiver, dependency and BDI-II.
Discussion: Although the study population is small, the data suggest that both the full and the abridged versions of the scale are adequate to measure the burden of the caregivers of patients with MS, showing adequate reliability and convergent validity rates. Conducting further studies with this population will provide a better understanding of the psycho-social issues that trigger caregiver stress in this population.
Disclosure: The authors have nothing to disclose