Schur Sophie, Neubauer Marie, Amering Michaela, Ebert-Vogel Alexandra, Masel Eva Katharina, Sibitz Ingrid, Watzke Herbert, Schrank Beate
Division of Palliative Care,Department of Internal Medicine I,Medical University of Vienna.
Division of Social Psychiatry,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,Medical University of Vienna.
Palliat Support Care. 2015 Jun;13(3):485-91. doi: 10.1017/S1478951514000261. Epub 2014 May 20.
Caregivers of cancer patients are faced with significant demands that can seriously impact their physical and mental health. It is important for healthcare professionals to be aware of caregivers' support needs in order for these to be adequately addressed. Our study develops a German version of the Family Inventory of Needs (FIN) and provides a comprehensive evaluation of its acceptability and psychometric properties.
Cross-sectional data from 308 participants were taken from the baseline assessment of an ongoing prospective study. Retests were completed by 46 participants approximately one week after baseline. Informal caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients were recruited from three hospitals in Vienna. Questionnaires for hope (IHS), traumatic stress (IES-R), and depression and anxiety (HADS) were employed together with the translated FIN to assess concurrent and discriminant validity.
The internal consistency of FIN-Importance had a Cronbach's α of 0.94, and that for FIN-Fulfillment was α = 0.96. Retest reliability for FIN-Importance was r = 0.97, while that for FIN-Fulfillment could not be calculated due to missing responses to this subscale. Concurrent and discriminant validity tests for the scale and the discriminative power of items were adequate. However, missing responses may limit the feasibility of using this scale in research settings. We identified six questions that could be excluded from the scale in order to increase its acceptability and further improve its psychometric properties.
Our results suggest that the FIN is suitable for clinical settings. For use in research, we suggest four adaptations to increase the scale's acceptability and psychometric properties. The FIN can be a valuable tool for informing the emotional, physical, and psychological support provided to family carers of people who are terminally ill with cancer.
癌症患者的照料者面临着巨大的压力，这会严重影响他们的身心健康。医护人员了解照料者的支持需求并给予充分满足非常重要。我们的研究开发了德文版的家庭需求量表（FIN），并对其可接受性和心理测量特性进行了全面评估。
308名参与者的横断面数据取自一项正在进行的前瞻性研究的基线评估。46名参与者在基线评估约一周后完成了重测。从维也纳的三家医院招募了晚期癌症患者的非正式照料者。使用希望量表（IHS）、创伤应激量表（IES-R）以及抑郁和焦虑量表（HADS），并结合翻译后的FIN量表来评估同时效度和区分效度。
FIN-重要性的内部一致性Cronbach's α为0.94，FIN-满足度的内部一致性α = 0.96。FIN-重要性的重测信度r = 0.97，而FIN-满足度由于该子量表的回答缺失无法计算重测信度。量表的同时效度和区分效度测试以及项目的区分能力是足够的。然而，回答缺失可能会限制该量表在研究中的可行性。我们确定了六个问题，可以从量表中排除，以提高其可接受性并进一步改善其心理测量特性。
我们的结果表明FIN量表适用于临床环境。在研究中使用时，我们建议进行四项调整以提高量表的可接受性和心理测量特性。FIN量表可以成为为晚期癌症患者的家庭照料者提供情感、身体和心理支持的有价值工具。
