Abstract

Background It is essential to better understand the caregiving burden and its determinants to support caregivers. The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability (internal consistency) of the caregiver burden inventory (CBI) in Iranian caregivers of elderly patients with Alzheimer. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted to translate and validate the CBI in Iran. The structural validity of the scale was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis. The concurrent validity was tested correlating the CBI scores with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. The internal consistency reliability was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results In total, we enrolled 315 caregivers of elderly patients with Alzheimer disease (79 women, mean age 56.5 +/- 13.9). The structural validity of the CBI as assessed by exploratory factor analysis indicated three factors (emotional/psychological, time-dependence and physical burden) that jointly explained 45.21 of the total variance observed. The Pearson correlation coefficient for the relationship between the scores obtained on the Caregiver Burden Inventory and the BAI and the BDI were 0.69 and 0.49 respectively, confirming the concurrent validity. The Cronbach's alpha for the CBI was 0.91 ranging from 0.78 to 0.92 for its subscales. Conclusion Used in clinical practice and research, the CBI was verified to be a proper multidimensional instrument for evaluating the burden in caregivers of elderly patients with Alzheimer disease.