Psycho-Oncology Psycho-Oncology 24: 612–615 (2015) Published online 29 September 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/pon.3686
Clinical Correspondence
Psychometric properties of the Zarit Burden Interview in Mexican caregivers of cancer patients Oscar Galindo-Vazquez1,2*, Corina Benjet3, Maria Haydee Cruz-Nieto2, Edith Rojas-Castillo2, Angelica Riveros-Rosas4, Abelardo Meneses-Garcia5, Jose Luis Aguilar-Ponce5, Miguel Angel Alvarez-Avitia5 and Salvador Alvarado-Aguilar2 1
School of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico Psycho-oncology Service, National Institute of Cancer (INCan), Mexico City, Mexico 3 Epidemiological and Psychosocial Research, National Institute of Psychiatry ‘Ramon de la Fuente Muniz’, Mexico City, Mexico 4 Research Division, School of Accounting and Administration, (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico 5 National Institute of Cancer, Mexico 2
Received: 14 February 2014 Accepted: 20 August 2014
*Correspondence to: Oscar Galindo-Vazquez, Av. San Fernando No. 22, Col. Seccion XVI, Deleg. Tlalpan, CP 14080 Mexico, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]
Dear Editor,
Introduction Primary caregivers play a crucial role in the hospital and home care of patients with cancer. They are commonly involved in complex caretaking tasks [1] such as the management of symptoms and adverse effects, hygiene tasks, transport to hospital centers, coordination of medical appointments, administration of drugs, management of insurance policies, supplying emotional care and communication with the health team. [2] Studies have reported significant restrictions in caregivers’ social activities, financial limitations, and physical burden, rendering them inclined to have lower levels of quality of life [3,4]. However, in Mexico, there is no caregiver burden evaluation scale validated for caregivers of cancer patients. Because a core characteristic of Mexican culture is ‘Familism’ described as family cohesiveness with familial obligations [5], burnout of caregivers may be common. Within this context, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) [6] is an instrument previously validated in the geriatric population and in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer disease and has been used for caregivers of cancer patients in different countries. It has shown good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alphas between 0.83 and 0.91) in those populations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate the psychometric properties of the ZBI in Mexican caregivers of cancer patients.
Method Sample The sample consisted of 359 primary caregivers, 72.2% of which were female. They were recruited from the National Institute of Cancer (INCan) in Mexico City. The sample Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
had an average age of 43.4 (ranging from 17 to 79). Educational level was low with 27% having completed only primary school or less, 32% middle school, 27% high school and 14% college. Over half of the caregivers were married (56.3%). On average caregivers dedicated 9 h per day to caregiving and performed 3.4 activities (most frequently personal hygiene, going to the bathroom and feeding). While caregivers of patients with all types of cancer were included, the most frequent diagnosis was breast cancer.
Procedure The participants were recruited between June 2012 and February 2013 during the patient’s appointment or in the waiting rooms of the INCan Medical Oncology, Surgery, Radiotherapy and Psycho-oncology Services in out-patient services as well as during hospitalization. The project was approved by the INCan internal review board. Each of the participants provided signed informed consent. The percentage of caregivers who did not accept to participate was
Clinical Correspondence
Psychometric properties of the Zarit Burden Interview in Mexican caregivers of cancer patients Oscar Galindo-Vazquez1,2*, Corina Benjet3, Maria Haydee Cruz-Nieto2, Edith Rojas-Castillo2, Angelica Riveros-Rosas4, Abelardo Meneses-Garcia5, Jose Luis Aguilar-Ponce5, Miguel Angel Alvarez-Avitia5 and Salvador Alvarado-Aguilar2 1
School of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico Psycho-oncology Service, National Institute of Cancer (INCan), Mexico City, Mexico 3 Epidemiological and Psychosocial Research, National Institute of Psychiatry ‘Ramon de la Fuente Muniz’, Mexico City, Mexico 4 Research Division, School of Accounting and Administration, (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico 5 National Institute of Cancer, Mexico 2
Received: 14 February 2014 Accepted: 20 August 2014
*Correspondence to: Oscar Galindo-Vazquez, Av. San Fernando No. 22, Col. Seccion XVI, Deleg. Tlalpan, CP 14080 Mexico, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]
Dear Editor,
Introduction Primary caregivers play a crucial role in the hospital and home care of patients with cancer. They are commonly involved in complex caretaking tasks [1] such as the management of symptoms and adverse effects, hygiene tasks, transport to hospital centers, coordination of medical appointments, administration of drugs, management of insurance policies, supplying emotional care and communication with the health team. [2] Studies have reported significant restrictions in caregivers’ social activities, financial limitations, and physical burden, rendering them inclined to have lower levels of quality of life [3,4]. However, in Mexico, there is no caregiver burden evaluation scale validated for caregivers of cancer patients. Because a core characteristic of Mexican culture is ‘Familism’ described as family cohesiveness with familial obligations [5], burnout of caregivers may be common. Within this context, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) [6] is an instrument previously validated in the geriatric population and in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer disease and has been used for caregivers of cancer patients in different countries. It has shown good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alphas between 0.83 and 0.91) in those populations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate the psychometric properties of the ZBI in Mexican caregivers of cancer patients.
Method Sample The sample consisted of 359 primary caregivers, 72.2% of which were female. They were recruited from the National Institute of Cancer (INCan) in Mexico City. The sample Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
had an average age of 43.4 (ranging from 17 to 79). Educational level was low with 27% having completed only primary school or less, 32% middle school, 27% high school and 14% college. Over half of the caregivers were married (56.3%). On average caregivers dedicated 9 h per day to caregiving and performed 3.4 activities (most frequently personal hygiene, going to the bathroom and feeding). While caregivers of patients with all types of cancer were included, the most frequent diagnosis was breast cancer.
Procedure The participants were recruited between June 2012 and February 2013 during the patient’s appointment or in the waiting rooms of the INCan Medical Oncology, Surgery, Radiotherapy and Psycho-oncology Services in out-patient services as well as during hospitalization. The project was approved by the INCan internal review board. Each of the participants provided signed informed consent. The percentage of caregivers who did not accept to participate was
