Daphne C Voormolen1,2, Job van Exel3,4, Werner Brouwer3,4, Anders Sköldunger5, Manuel Gonçalves-Pereira6, Kate Irving7, Anja Bieber8, Geir Selbaek9,10,11, Bob Woods12, Orazio Zanetti13, Frans Verhey14, Anders Wimo5,15, Ron L H Handels5,14. 1. Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3000 CA, PO Box 2040, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. d.voormolen@erasmusmc.nl. 2. Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. d.voormolen@erasmusmc.nl. 3. Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 4. Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 5. Dept for Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Div of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden. 6. Comprehensive Health Research Centre/CEDOC, NOVA Medical School/Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 7. School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. 8. Medical Faculty, Institute for Health and Nursing Science, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Magdeburger Straße 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany. 9. Norwegian National Advisory Unit On Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway. 10. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. 11. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 12. Dementia Services Development Centre Wales (DSDC), Bangor University, Bangor, UK. 13. IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni Di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy. 14. Alzheimer Center Limburg, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, The Netherlands. 15. Centre for Research & Development, Uppsala University/County Council of Gävleborg, Gävle, Sweden.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Informal care constitutes an important part of the total care for people with dementia. Therefore, the impact of the syndrome on their caregivers as well as that of health and social care services for people with dementia should be considered. This study investigated the convergent and clinical validity of the CarerQol instrument, which measures and values the impact of providing informal care, in a multi-country sample of caregivers for people with dementia. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from a sample of 451 respondents in eight European countries, collected by the Actifcare project, were evaluated. Convergent validity was analysed with Spearman's correlation coefficients and multivariate correlations between the CarerQol-7D utility score and dimension scores, and other similar quality of life measures such as CarerQol-VAS, ICECAP-O, and EQ-5D. Clinical validity was evaluated by bivariate and multivariate analyses of the degree to which the CarerQol instrument can differentiate between characteristics of caregivers, care receivers and caregiving situation. Country dummies were added to test CarerQol score differences between countries. RESULTS: The mean CarerQol utility score was 77.6 and varied across countries from 74.3 (Italy) to 82.3 (Norway). The scores showed moderate to strong positive correlations with the CarerQol-VAS, ICECAP-O, and EQ-5D health problems score of the caregiver. Multivariate regression analysis showed that various characteristics of the caregiver, care receiver and caregiving situation were associated with caregiver outcomes, but there was no evidence of a country-level effect. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the convergent and clinical validity of the CarerQol instrument to evaluate the impact of providing informal care for people with dementia.
PURPOSE: Informal care constitutes an important part of the total care for people with dementia. Therefore, the impact of the syndrome on their caregivers as well as that of health and social care services for people with dementia should be considered. This study investigated the convergent and clinical validity of the CarerQol instrument, which measures and values the impact of providing informal care, in a multi-country sample of caregivers for people with dementia. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from a sample of 451 respondents in eight European countries, collected by the Actifcare project, were evaluated. Convergent validity was analysed with Spearman's correlation coefficients and multivariate correlations between the CarerQol-7D utility score and dimension scores, and other similar quality of life measures such as CarerQol-VAS, ICECAP-O, and EQ-5D. Clinical validity was evaluated by bivariate and multivariate analyses of the degree to which the CarerQol instrument can differentiate between characteristics of caregivers, care receivers and caregiving situation. Country dummies were added to test CarerQol score differences between countries. RESULTS: The mean CarerQol utility score was 77.6 and varied across countries from 74.3 (Italy) to 82.3 (Norway). The scores showed moderate to strong positive correlations with the CarerQol-VAS, ICECAP-O, and EQ-5D health problems score of the caregiver. Multivariate regression analysis showed that various characteristics of the caregiver, care receiver and caregiving situation were associated with caregiver outcomes, but there was no evidence of a country-level effect. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the convergent and clinical validity of the CarerQol instrument to evaluate the impact of providing informal care for people with dementia.
Entities:
Keywords:
CarerQol instrument; Construct validity; Dementia; Informal care
Authors: Mike C Horton; Jan Oyebode; Linda Clare; Molly Megson; Leanne Shearsmith; Carol Brayne; Paul Kind; Zoe Hoare; Hareth Al Janabi; Val Hewison; Alan Tennant; Penny Wright Journal: Gerontologist Date: 2021-04-03
Authors: Alicia Aurora Rodríguez; Imanol Amayra; Juan Francisco López-Paz; Oscar Martínez; Maitane García; Mónika Salgueiro; Mohammad Al-Rashaida; Paula María Luna; Paula Pérez-Nuñez; Nicole Passi; Irune García; Javiera Ortega Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-28 Impact factor: 4.614