The psychometric properties of a caregiving-related strain scale in oncology

Background Caregivers are rarely assessed for caregiving-related strain. This study explored the psychometric properties of the caregiving-related physical, emotional, and financial strain questions in the National Alliance for Caregiving's (NAC) survey and a new total score (NAC-3). Methods Comparisons were made to existing caregiver quality of life, distress, and burden instruments through an online, cross-sectional survey of U.S. adult cancer caregivers. Results Findings from 299 caregivers showed that the NAC-3 was moderately to strongly associated with each of the comparison instruments. Similar concepts were also shown to be more strongly correlated (except physical health construct) and dissimilar concepts items had weaker correlations. Conclusion Findings suggest that the total score and individual items are psychometrically sound for use as compared to established caregiving-related instruments. The total score and items provide a concise option, potentially beneficial for clinical use, and can be compared to nationally representative samples of caregivers through NAC's surveys.

Automated summary

This study examined the psychometric properties of caregiving-related strain questions and a new total score in the National Alliance for Caregiving's survey. The findings suggest that these measures are reliable for use compared to established caregiving-related instruments.