Sense of competence questionnaire among informal caregivers of older adults with dementia symptoms: A psychometric evaluation
Tóm tắt
The Sense of Competence Questionnaire (SCQ) was originally developed for informal caregivers of patients with diagnosed dementia. In order to study the validity and usefulness of the SCQ when applied to informal caregivers of older adults with dementia symptoms (i.e. cognitive impairment, pre-diagnostic dementia or dementia in its early stages), we investigated the construct validity, feasibility, subscales, homogeneity, and floor and ceiling effects in this new target population. A psychometric evaluation was performed among 99 informal caregivers. To investigate construct validity, hypotheses were tested, concerning the association between sense of competence and burden, mental quality of life, depressive symptoms, and mastery. To investigate feasibility, response rate and the proportion of missing data were explored for each item. An exploratory principal component analysis was used to investigate whether the SCQ comprises the three subscales established in previous studies. Homogeneity was assessed for each subscale with Cronbach's α and item-total correlations. Floor and ceiling effects were explored. Most hypotheses on construct validity were rejected. Only the subscale 'consequences of involvement in care' was found to be partly valid. Feasibility: 93 out of 99 persons completed the SCQ. The proportion of unanswered items per item ranged from 0 – 3%. Subscales: the SCQ comprises the three expected subscales. Homogeneity: Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlations of the three subscales were satisfactory. A ceiling effect occurred on the subscale 'satisfaction with the care recipient'. The three subscales of the SCQ showed good homogeneity and feasibility, but their validity is insufficient: only the subscale 'consequences of involvement' was found to be partly valid. The two other subscales might not be relevant yet for the new target population, since many of the items on these scales refer to problem behaviour and problematic interactions. Our message to clinicians is not to use these subscales.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Beach SR, Schulz R, Yee JL, Jackson S: Negative and positive health effects of caring for a disabled spouse: longitudinal findings from the caregiver health effects study. Psychol Aging. 2000, 15: 259-271. 10.1037/0882-7974.15.2.259.
Huckle PL: Review: Families and dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiat. 1994, 9: 735-741. 10.1002/gps.930090908.
Mittelman MS, Epstein C, Pierzchala A: Counseling the Alzheimer's Caregiver: A Resource for Health Care Professionals. 2003, Chicago: AMA Press
Scholte op, Reimer WJ, de Haan RJ, Pijnenborg JM, Limburg M, van den Bos GA: Assessment of burden in partners of stroke patients with the sense of competence questionnaire. Stroke. 1998, 29: 373-379.
Vernooij-Dassen M: [in Dutch: Dementia and home-care]. PhD thesis. 1993, University of Nijmegen
Folstein M, Folstein S, McHugh P: "Mini-Mental" State: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res. 1975, 12: 189-198. 10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6.
Solomon PR, Pendlebury WW: Recognition of Alzheimer's disease: the 7 Minute Screen. Fam Med. 1998, 30: 265-271.
Jansen AP, van Hout HP, van Marwijk HW, Nijpels G, de Bruijne MC, Bosmans JE, Pot AM, Stalman WA: (Cost)-effectiveness of case-management by district nurses among primary informal caregivers of older adults with dementia symptoms and the older adults who receive informal care: design of a randomized controlled trial [ISCRTN83135728]. BMC Public Health. 2005, 5: 133-10.1186/1471-2458-5-133.
Vernooij-Dassen MJ, Persoon JM, Felling AJ: Predictors of sense of competence in caregivers of demented persons. Soc Sci Med. 1996, 43: 41-49. 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00332-0.
Kaufer DI, Cummings JL, Ketchel P, Smith V, MacMillan A, Shelley T, Lopez OL, DeKosky ST: Validation of the NPI-Q, a brief clinical form of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2000, 12: 233-239.
Pot AM, van Dyck R, Deeg DJ: [in Dutch:Perceived stress caused by informal caregiving. Construction of a scale]. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr. 1995, 26: 214-219.
McHorney CA, Ware JE, Raczek AE: The MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36): II. Psychometric and clinical tests of validity in measuring physical and mental health constructs. Med Care. 1993, 31: 247-263. 10.1097/00005650-199303000-00006.
Pearlin LI, Schooler C: The structure of coping. J Health Soc Behav. 1978, 19: 2-21. 10.2307/2136319.
Radloff LS: The CES-D Scale: a Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population. Appl Psych Meas. 1975, 1: 138-401.
Teunisse S, Derix MM: [in Dutch: Measurement of activities of daily living in patients with dementia living at home: development of a questionnaire]. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr. 1991, 22: 53-59.
Streiner DL: Figuring out factors: the use and misuse of factor analysis. Can J Psychiatry. 1994, 39: 135-140.
Streiner DL, Norman G: Health Measurement Scales: a practical guide to their development and use. 2003, Oxford: Oxford University Press, third
McHorney CA, Tarlov AR: Individual-patient monitoring in clinical practice: are available health status surveys adequate?. Qual Life Res. 1995, 4: 293-307. 10.1007/BF01593882.
Comstock GW, Helsing KJ: Symptoms of depression in two communities. Psychol Med. 2006, 6: 551-
Bowns I, Challis D, Tong MS: Case finding in elderly people: validation of a postal questionnaire. Br J Gen Pract. 1991, 41: 100-104.
Hebert R, Bravo G, Korner-Bitensky N, Voyer L: Refusal and information bias associated with postal questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in very elderly subjects. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996, 49: 373-381. 10.1016/0895-4356(95)00527-7.