Development of a brief assessment scale for caregivers of the medically ill.

Studies have documented high degrees of burden and negative outcomes for caregivers. The present study sought to develop a brief instrument for caregiver burden. An item pool was administered to 102 caregivers of patients with chronic illnesses (cancer, 55%; neurological, 15%; psychiatric 12%), along with measures of caregiver burden and quality of life. Item reduction was accomplished through content review and factor analysis. This yielded a 14-item Brief Assessment Scale for Caregivers (BASC) and an eight-item subscale measuring negative personal impact (NPI). Cronbach's alpha was 0.70 for the BASC and 0.80 for the NPI. Construct validity was confirmed by appropriate patterns of intercorrelation with other measures of caregiver burden. Higher burden was found for caregivers expected to have higher levels of distress (adult children caring for parents, P<0.005; female caregivers, P=0.035). These results support the validity of the BASC as a brief instrument for caregiver burden.