The Establishment of Clinical Cutoffs in Measuring Caregiver Burden in Dementia

Abstract

Although several scales have been developed to assess burden, their clinical utility has been limited by the absence of relevant cutoff points. Clinical data from 140 primary caregivers seeking a dementia evaluation for a family member were analyzed to establish the psychometric properties of a caregiver burden screen. Results indicate that the cutoff values were both sensitive and specific to negative caregiving outcomes. These findings suggest that use of a burden screen may assist clinicians when assessing the adequacy of caregiving arrangements in dementia.

End-of-Life Caregiving: What Helps Family Caregivers Cope?

“…29 The Cronbach a for this sample was 0.92. The correlation between the Caregiver Burden Screen and the BSI was 0.76.…”

Worry about performance: a unique dimension of caregiver burden

“…Initially, the ZBI was utilized in a uni-dimensional fashion that classified caregivers into different degrees of burden based upon clinically relevant cut-offs of the total score (Rankin et al, 1994). There is increasing appreciation that burden is a multidimensional construct that is beyond what a global score can capture (Ankri et al, 2005).…”

Associations between Caregiver-Perceived Delirium in Patients with Cancer and Generalized Anxiety in their Caregivers

“…[14][15][16] Hospitalization of dementia patients and deterioration of the patient-caregiver relationship have also been shown to increase caregiver burden. [17][18][19] Delirium often occurs in a hospital setting and is commonly characterized by hallucinations or paranoid delusions. Because many of the features of dementia that put caregivers at risk can also occur in patients with delirium, delirium seems likely to put caregivers at risk for distress.…”