ASSESSMENT OF BURDEN IN PARTNERS OF STROKE PATIENTS WITH THE SENSE OFCOMPETENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

Background and Purpose-The burden of caregiving can be harmful to both carers' and patients' functional health, but a specific instrument to assess the burden of caregiving as experienced by carers of stroke pa tients is not yet available. The Sense of Competence Questionnaire (SC Q), reliable and valid among caregivers of dementia patients, was eval uated on its metric properties in a population of partners of stroke p atients. Methods-As part of a multicenter study on quality of care, SC Q burden scores of partners and functional health of patients were ass essed 6 months after stroke (group A; n=166). In this study group, the reliability in terms of homogeneity, the construct validity, and the clinical validity of the SCQ were evaluated. The test-retest reliabili ty was assessed in a separate group (group B; n=47). The feasibility w as examined in both study groups. Results-The reliability of the total SCQ score was good (Chronbach's alpha coefficient=0.83; intraclass co rrelation coefficient=0.93). Statistical support for construct validit y was shown by principal-components analysis. Clinical validity was su pported by the association between higher SCQ burden scores and patien ts' impaired functional health: cognitive function (P=.03), disability (P=.10), handicap (P<.01), and quality of life (P=.02). Conclusions-T he SCQ is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing burden of care giving as experienced by partners of stroke patients. It is suitable f or use in cross-sectional stroke studies and may help to identify part ners at risk for high levels of burden and caregiving-related problems .