Psychometric Properties of the Family Inventory of Resources for Management in a Sample of Iranian Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Family Inventory of Resources for Management (FIRM) in a sample of family caregivers of cancer patients. Methods. In this methodological study, construct validity of the FIRM was evaluated by known groups and convergent validity in a convenience sample of family caregivers of cancer patients (n = 104) referred to the outpatient oncology wards of five educational hospitals in Tehran from January to April 2016. Reliability was determined by assessing the internal consistency and stability of the instrument. Results. The known-groups findings showed that there is a significant difference between the scores of the FIRM in family caregivers with different levels of caregiver burden (p < 0.001). Also, the results of convergent validity showed that there is a moderate negative correlation (r = −0.50; p < 0.001) between the total scores of the FIRM and the scores of the caregiver burden inventory (CBI). The FIRM showed a good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and a good stability of the test-retest reliability result. Conclusions. There is a sound psychometric basis for the use of the Persian translation of the FIRM for family studies in the Iranian population.

The role of family caregiver's sense of coherence and family adaptation determinants in predicting distress and caregiver burden in families of cancer patients

“…[ 11 ] In this study, the Persian version of this instrument was used, which has desirable psychometrics properties. [ 12 ] In the present study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the FIRM was 0.71.…”

Caregiving burden, depression, and anxiety among family caregivers of patients with cancer: An investigation of patient and caregiver factors

“…In an Iranian population of cancer family caregivers, the prevalence of high caregiving burden was reported to be 48.1%. In the aforementioned study, four predicting variables including, being a spouse, caring for a male patient, being dissatisfied with family monthly income, and early cancer diagnosis (<1 month) have been suggested (Mirsoleymani et al, 2017). However, in this study, the gender of the patients was not significantly associated with the caregiving burden, caring for female patients was related to significantly more levels of anxiety.…”

“…The findings of a recent systematic review support this explanation; it reveals that in a population of patients with small renal masses, undergoing active surveillance (AS) vs. surgery may be related to a significant reduction in total scores of Short Form-12 at enrollment and at the end of each follow-up period (2 and 3 years) (Vartolomei et al, 2022). However, the existing evidence is in line with the fact that both disease-related and patient health-related quality of life factors might be crucial in predicting a higher burden among family caregivers (Thrush and Hyder, 2014;Mirsoleymani et al, 2017).…”

“…It has already been indicated that in caregivers of patients with cancer, there has been a significant positive correlation between caregiver burden and family distress index. High scores of family distress index, along with other factors such as patient gender and time since cancer diagnosis significantly predicted the burden imposed on the family caregivers (Mirsoleymani et al, 2017). Recent research on the burden on family caregivers of patients with cancer has yielded some intriguing results of the various factors contributing to caregiver burden.…”