Abstract
ObjectiveThis study aimed to: (a) adapt the previously validated Valuation of Lost Productivity (VOLP) questionnaire for people with health problems, to a caregiver version to measure productivity losses associated with caregiving responsibilities, and (b) evaluate measurement feasibility and validity of an online version of the caregiver VOLP questionnaire.MethodsA mixed methods design was utilized. Qualitative methods, such as reviewing existing questionnaires that measured caregiver work productivity losses and performing one-on-one interviews with caregivers, were used for VOLP adaptation and online conversion. Quantitative methods were used to evaluate feasibility and validity of the online VOLP. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire for caregivers was included to compare its absenteeism and presenteeism outcomes and their correlations with VOLP outcomes.ResultsWhen adapting the VOLP for caregivers, our qualitative analysis showed the importance of adding three major components: caregiving time, work productivity loss related to volunteer activities and caregivers’ lost job opportunities. A total of 383 caregivers who completed online survey were included in our final quantitative analysis. We found small Spearman rank correlations between VOLP and WPAI, observing a larger correlation between their absenteeism [r = 0.49 (95% confidence interval: 0.37–0.60)] than their presenteeism [r = 0.36 (0.24–0.47)]. Correlations between VOLP outcomes and total caregiving hours were larger for absenteeism [r = 0.38 (0.27–0.47)] than presenteeism [r = 0.22 (0.10–0.34)]. Correlations between WPAI outcomes and total caregiving hours were smaller for absenteeism [r = 0.27 (0.15–0.38)] than presenteeism [r = 0.35 (0.23–0.46)].ConclusionThe study provides evidence of the feasibility and preliminary validity evidence of the adapted VOLP caregiver questionnaire in measuring productivity losses due to caregiving responsibilities, when compared with the results for WPAI and the results from the previous patient-VOLP validation study.
Highlights
Studies have consistently demonstrated that chronic conditions have a significantly negative impact on work productivity of patients (Zhang et al, 2016, 2018)
Beyond the direct impact on patients, chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, dementia, and chronic kidney disease have been shown to have a significant impact on the work productivity of caregivers who are caring for their family members or friends who have a chronic condition (Ganapathy et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2016; Kahn et al, 2017; Fujihara et al, 2019; Kuenzig et al, 2019)
At the first stage of the adaptation of Valuation of Lost Productivity questionnaire (VOLP) for caregivers, the research team decided to add three major components to the existing VOLP based on the review of previous questionnaires, research team discussion and interview findings: caregiving time for different caregiving responsibilities, work productivity loss related to volunteer activities, as well as caregivers’ lost job opportunities
Summary
Studies have consistently demonstrated that chronic conditions have a significantly negative impact on work productivity of patients (Zhang et al, 2016, 2018). Beyond the direct impact on patients, chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, dementia, and chronic kidney disease have been shown to have a significant impact on the work productivity of caregivers who are caring for their family members or friends who have a chronic condition (Ganapathy et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2016; Kahn et al, 2017; Fujihara et al, 2019; Kuenzig et al, 2019). Kahn et al (2017) found that caregivers, of a group of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients, had an unadjusted 214.4 ± 171.5 annual hours of work loss. This was translated to an annual lost productivity cost of $5243 USD per caregiver. This was translated to an annual lost productivity cost of $5243 USD per caregiver. Ganapathy et al (2015) determined that caregivers of stroke patients, had a monthly mean total lostproductivity cost to be $835 USD, with 72% being attributable to presenteeism
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