Abstract
PurposeThe Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS-24) and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI-22) are among the most widely used measures for assessing caregiving burden, but their psychometric performances have not been compared in the same study of caregivers of people living with schizophrenia (PLS). This is important because the measures assess overlapping constructs- the FBIS-24 assesses objective burden (e.g., completion of manual tasks) and the ZBI-22 assesses subjective burden (e.g., perceived distress, stigma). This study seeks to fill this gap by comparing the reliability and validity of the FBIS-24 and the ZBI-22 in a Chinese community sample of caregivers of PLS.MethodsA Cross-sectional stud was conducted in a community-based mental health service program in Central South part of China. A total of 327 primary family caregivers of PLS completed face-to-face interviews of the FBIS-24, the ZBI-22, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the Family Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection and Resolve Index scale (APGAR), and PLS were assessed using the Global Assessment of Function scale (GAF).ResultsOur findings show that both the FBIS-24 and ZBI-22 have comparable psychometric performance in terms of the internal consistency, convergent validity and known group’s validity.ConclusionBoth the FBIS-24 and the ZBI-22 are psychometrically sound measures of caregiving burden but the choice of which measure to use will depend on the research question.
Highlights
In a context of de-institutionalization and communitybased mental health services, the family caregiver’s role is becoming increasingly important at a sociological, economic, and political level [1, 2]
Among the 327 respondents we interviewed that completed all information on socio-demographics, 295 completed both Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS)-24 and Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI)-22 with no missing data, while 292 completed all questionnaires with no missing data
Using a score of 23 and 48 as the cut-offs for FBIS-24 and ZBI-22 to distinguish those with higher and lower burden, we compared these groups on demographic characteristics
Summary
In a context of de-institutionalization and communitybased mental health services, the family caregiver’s role is becoming increasingly important at a sociological, economic, and political level [1, 2]. Objective and subjective burden encompass physical, mental, financial and social aspects of caregiving [4]. Identifying a measure to assess burden for caregivers of people living with schizophrenia (PLS) is a vital step in understanding the types of support that caregivers need, and critical to developing effective intervention programs that target specific caregiver needs [7, 8]. A plethora of measures have been developed to assess caregiving burden, two have been validated in international studies and used most often among caregivers of PLS: The Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS) [9] and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI) [10]
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