Berlin Inventory of Caregiver Stress—Dementia (BICS-D)

Abstract

Background and Objectives Dementia is becoming increasingly prevalent and family caregivers have been providing most of the care for persons with dementia. This caregiving is a mentally and physically demanding task. “The Berlin Inventory of Caregiver Stress—Dementia” (BICS-D) is a theory driven, multidimensional assessment which was developed as part of the Longitudinal Dementia Caregiver Stress Study (LEANDER). Research Design and Methods The inventory consists of 25 subscales with a total of 121 items. Analyses of the psychometric properties of the inventory were based on responses from 594 caregivers. Results Factor analyses confirm the multidimensionality of the inventory. The reliabilities of the subscales (Cronbach’s α) are between .72 and .95. Validity and sensitivity of the inventory were also confirmed. Differing patterns of burden could be demonstrated for different relatives (partners, children, and daughters-in-law) as well as for different degrees of severity of dementia. Discussion and Implications The scores derived for the instrument have support for reliability and validity, and sensitivity to change. It is suitable for the differential measurement of burden experienced by different subgroups of caregivers as well as for the evaluation of interventions. The different subscales of the battery can also be used separately, depending on the study’s objectives.

Exploring the multidimensionality of home‐based dementia caregiving and related challenges based on digital journaling and interviews

“…Medical professionals must be aware of the burdens associated with medication management, and comprehensive drug training should be available for all caregivers (Aston et al., 2017). Respite care and professional caregiving arrangements have proven to decrease these tasks for caregivers, reducing costs for health systems due to preventive care, and well‐developed, tailored support plans that proffer in‐home aid are flexible and adaptable (Schlomann et al., 2021). Insurance coverage for PLWD could expand to include occupational therapists and recreational activities to assist informal caregivers with daily tasks (Amato et al., 2021).…”

“…Our all‐female sample reported that the delivery of a broad spectrum of tasks appeared to restrict their social participation. As such, thoughtful interventions are needed to prevent isolation and accommodate those caregivers typically not considered at ‘high risk’, particularly older spouses who reported higher levels of burden (Riffin et al., 2017; Schlomann et al., 2021). Psychosocial brief programming is known to prepare caregivers with education on perplexing dementia care needs and has been shown to increase levels of self‐efficacy and decrease depressive symptoms compared to passive learning methods (Meyer et al., 2022).…”

“…(2008) of informal caregivers in European countries; in that study, half of the informal caregivers identified that monitoring dementia symptoms was one of the most challenging aspects of their routines. Caregiver assessments such as the Berlin Inventory of Caregiver Stress‐Dementia (BICS‐D) scale could be conducted by health professionals to pinpoint areas of informal caregiver hardships (Schlomann et al., 2021). The BICS‐D is a multidimensional battery that measures care tasks related to self‐reported levels of subjective caregiver burdens, conflicts of perceived care recipient needs, caregiving role and relationship conflicts and coping strategies.…”

The Burden of Next-of-Kin Carers of Dementia Sufferers in the Home Environment

“…The result of the factor analysis turned out to be identical to those performed 40 years ago in Britain [ 20 ], 15 years ago in Norway [ 23 ], and recently in Germany [ 38 ] and Thailand [ 32 ], which displays the usefulness of the scale over time and across cultures. Being a next-of-kin carer of someone suffering from dementia of any aetiology is stressful [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The results of this study are well-aligned with the existing research that suggests some carers experience a great deal of burden; this is also the case for Slovak next-of-kin carers for dementia sufferers.…”

Differences and commonalities of home-based care arrangements for persons living with dementia in Germany – a theory-driven development of types using multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis

“…The underlying variables of the primary DemNet-D study are presented in Additional file 1: Appendix A. The selected variables originate from sociodemographic questions, the Instrument for Assessing Home-Based Care Arrangements for Persons with Dementia (D-IVA) [12], the Berlin Inventory of Caregiver Stress-Dementia (BICS-D) [20], the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) tool [21] and the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease (QOL-AD proxy) questionnaire [22].…”