TY - JOUR
T1 - The Italian version of the FAMCARE scale
T2 - a validation study
AU - Chattat, Rabih
AU - Ottoboni, Giovanni
AU - Zeneli, Anita
AU - Berardi, Maria Alejandra
AU - Cossu, Veronica
AU - Maltoni, Marco
PY - 2016/4/11
Y1 - 2016/4/11
N2 - Purpose: Evaluation of the quality of care is a key element that healthcare providers now take into consideration to meet patients’ needs, expectations, and values. The FAMCARE scale is one of the most important instruments available to assess the level of satisfaction about care received by patients and families. We describe the validation process used to develop an Italian version (IF) of the original FAMCARE scale for caregivers. Methods: The IF was prepared according to standard guidelines for translation and transcultural adaptation of self-reported measures. The scale was self-administered to 132 informal caregivers of patients with cancer treated with curative and/or palliative care in a hospice, outpatient, or inpatient setting for at least 1 month. The participant group was composed of spouses (47.73 %), children (31.82 %), siblings (3.03 %), or other relatives (17.42 %). All participants simultaneously completed the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) questionnaire to test the construct validity. Twenty-two percent of randomly chosen participants re-completed the test after 1 month to evaluate IF test-retest stability. Results: The IF showed a strong reliability with internal consistency [α = 0.93, confidence intervals (CI) = 0.91–0.95] and test-retest stability (Pearson r = 0.38; Kendall’s tau-b = 0,25; Spearman’s rho =0.34). Factor analysis identified four factors capable of explaining the 63 % total variance which did not change after the Varimax normalized rotation. Notwithstanding the lack of correlation with the VAS component of the EQ-5D questionnaire, our results highlighted robust psychometric properties of the IF. Conclusions: IF is a valid translation of the FAMCARE scale and can be used to assess caregiver satisfaction within the Italian context of cancer palliative care.
AB - Purpose: Evaluation of the quality of care is a key element that healthcare providers now take into consideration to meet patients’ needs, expectations, and values. The FAMCARE scale is one of the most important instruments available to assess the level of satisfaction about care received by patients and families. We describe the validation process used to develop an Italian version (IF) of the original FAMCARE scale for caregivers. Methods: The IF was prepared according to standard guidelines for translation and transcultural adaptation of self-reported measures. The scale was self-administered to 132 informal caregivers of patients with cancer treated with curative and/or palliative care in a hospice, outpatient, or inpatient setting for at least 1 month. The participant group was composed of spouses (47.73 %), children (31.82 %), siblings (3.03 %), or other relatives (17.42 %). All participants simultaneously completed the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) questionnaire to test the construct validity. Twenty-two percent of randomly chosen participants re-completed the test after 1 month to evaluate IF test-retest stability. Results: The IF showed a strong reliability with internal consistency [α = 0.93, confidence intervals (CI) = 0.91–0.95] and test-retest stability (Pearson r = 0.38; Kendall’s tau-b = 0,25; Spearman’s rho =0.34). Factor analysis identified four factors capable of explaining the 63 % total variance which did not change after the Varimax normalized rotation. Notwithstanding the lack of correlation with the VAS component of the EQ-5D questionnaire, our results highlighted robust psychometric properties of the IF. Conclusions: IF is a valid translation of the FAMCARE scale and can be used to assess caregiver satisfaction within the Italian context of cancer palliative care.
KW - Cancer patients
KW - Cancer services
KW - Care satisfaction
KW - Caregivers
KW - FAMCARE scale validation
KW - Self-reported instruments
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U2 - 10.1007/s00520-016-3187-1
DO - 10.1007/s00520-016-3187-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962834088
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Supportive Care in Cancer
JF - Supportive Care in Cancer
SN - 0941-4355
ER -