Table 2.
Studies evaluating psychometric performance of measures in the cancer caregiver population
| Measure | Version | First author | Year | Study aim | Population | N | Setting/country | Administration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACS | 27-item | Lambert [21] | 2015 | To examine the psychometric properties of the ACS | Adult caregivers of advanced breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer diagnosed in the last six months | 484 | USA | Reports baseline data from 484 participants and T2 data from 163 participants. Competed alongside other measures of caregiver burden, depression, benefit finding, coping, dyadic support and hopelessness |
| ACS | Original 53-item (reduced to 27 after this analysis) | Oberst [13] | 1989 | To examine family caregiving demands and caregivers’ appraisals of the caregiving experience | Family caregivers of adults receiving radiotherapy as outpatients | 47 | USA | Single time point alongside a measure of time spent in caregiving (also a new measure) |
| BASC | Original 43-item (reduced to 14 items after this analysis) | Glajchen [12] | 2005 | To develop a brief validated instrument that can measure caregiver distress and burden in a clinical setting | Caregivers of patients with cancer (n = 56), neurological conditions (n = 16), mental health (n = 12) musculoskeletal (n = 2) COPD (n = 1) multiple conditions (n = 15) | 102 | USA | Single time point alongside validation instruments measuring objective and subjective burden, spiritual health, physical health, satisfaction with patient care, social support, unmet need, mental health and impact of caregiving on quality of life (single item) |
| CQOLC | 35-item | Weitzner [14] | 1999a | To evaluate the reliability and validity of the caregiver quality of life index—cancer | Primary family caregivers of patients with breast, lung or prostate cancer | 263 | USA | 180 participants completed the questionnaires once; 83 (different) participants completed the questionnaires on two occasions 14 days apart. Questionnaire packs also include measures of perceived health and functioning, depression, anxiety, burden, social support, social desirability and a single-item measure for proxy reporting of the patient’s physical status and ambulatory ability |
| CQOLC | 35-item | Weitzner [22] | 1999b | To revalidate the caregiver quality of life instrument in home hospice care and demonstrate generalisability | Family members of cancer patients who were receiving hospice services at home | 239 | USA | Participants completed the questionnaire at a single time point along with a measure of perceived health and functioning (SF-36), a four-item quality of life instrument using a visual analogue scale and a single-item measure for proxy reporting of the patient’s physical status and ambulatory ability |
| CRA | 40-item (reduced to 24 in this analysis) | Given [15] | 1992 | Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysisa of new measure, test factorial invariance and construct validity | Caregivers of patients with physical impairment (N = 267), Alzheimer’s disease (N = 211), cancer (N = 276) | 754 | USA | Most participants completed at a single time point. 193 participants completed at 3 time points, baseline, 6 months and 12 months. CRA was completed alongside a measure of depression and activities of daily living |
| FACQ-PC | 26-item (reduced to 25 items after this analysis) | Cooper [10] | 2006 | To develop and validate a scale designed to measure the positive and negative components of caregiving for family caregivers of people receiving palliative care at home | Adult family caregivers of a relative receiving palliative care | 160 | Australia | Single time point. 160 caregivers completed the FACQ-PC, a subsample of 56 also completed validation measures of family functioning, positive and negative effect and subjective burden |
| QOL-F | 37-item version | Sherman [23] | 2006 | To establish the reliability of the quality of life instrument based on patients with AIDS, patients with cancer and AIDS and cancer family caregivers. To identify differences in quality of life between patients with AIDS and cancer and their family caregivers | 81 family caregivers (38 cancer, 43 AIDS) 101 patients (38 cancer, 63 AIDS) |
38 (only data on cancer caregivers used in this review) | USA | Presents data from baseline and month 3 of a longitudinal study. Only the target instrument appears to have been administered |
| QOLLTI-F | 24-item (reduced to 16 items after this analysis)b | Cohen [11] | 2006 | To develop and test measures of quality of life for family caregivers of palliative care patients | Primary caregivers of palliative care patients | 245 | Canada | Data collected at three time points. Measure completed alongside a two-item global measure of QoL |
| ZBI—multiple short versions | 22-item | Higginson [20] | 2010 | To assess the validity of 6 short-form versions of the Zarit Burden Interview in 3 caregiver populations | Caregivers of patients with advanced cancer (n = 105), dementia (n = 131) acquired brain injury (n = 215) | 105 (only data on cancer caregivers used) | UK | Data presented from one time point only. Short forms of ZBI compared with 22-item version as gold standard |
aThe data on confirmatory factor analysis are also reported by Stommel and colleagues [24] which was identified in forward citation searches. This paper is excluded as it concerns the same data
bAuthors have now produced a second version of this questionnaire with minor changes and an additional question; however, the validation studies are as yet unpublished