Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Gerontology
• Public Health

Background:

• Family caregivers of individuals with dementia experience significant strain impacting their quality of life.
• Validated outcome measures reflecting caregivers' everyday experiences are crucial for evaluating psychosocial interventions.
• The Carer Experience Scale (CES) aims to capture quality of life beyond health-related aspects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a Danish version of the Carer Experience Scale (CES).
• To assess the discriminative and convergent validity of the CES in family caregivers of people with dementia.
• To establish the scale and test-retest reliability of the Danish CES.

Main Methods:

• 375 family caregivers of people with dementia completed baseline questionnaires including six quality-of-life measures.
• Discriminant validity was assessed by comparing caregiver situations and strain levels.
• Convergent validity was evaluated by correlating CES scores with established measures like NPI-D, EQ-5D-5L, EQ-VAS, WHO-5, and UCLA 3-item.
• Scale reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC).

Main Results:

• The CES demonstrated discriminant validity, distinguishing between different levels of caregiver strain.
• Convergent validity showed moderate correlations with NPI-D, WHO-5, and UCLA 3-item, and weak correlations with EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS.
• The CES exhibited low internal consistency (α=0.53) but high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.77).

Conclusions:

• The Danish CES possesses acceptable psychometric properties for use with family caregivers of people with dementia.
• This study supports the utility of the CES in capturing the everyday experiences of family caregivers.
• The CES offers a valuable approach for assessing the impact of interventions aimed at family caregivers of individuals with dementia.