[Evaluation of the German version of the caregiver reaction assessment questionnaire for informal caregivers of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration].

BACKGROUND

Informal caregivers of patients with loss of vision often have to give physical and emotional support because of the high level of dependence induced. Although it is known that these informal caregivers suffer a higher risk of being affected by burn-out syndrome or depression, the various dimensions of burden, especially of informal caregivers of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nv-AMD) have not yet been investigated.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was the evaluation of the German version of the caregiver reaction assessment (CRA) questionnaire in a collective of informal caregivers of patients with nv-AMD. In this context the positive and negative influences on the informal caregivers were assessed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Between January 2013 and July 2014 a total of 150 informal caregivers of patients with nv-AMD filled out the CRA independently using a questionnaire survey which had been translated into German. Based on this collective, the psychometric characteristics of the translated questionnaire were evaluated.

RESULTS

The informal caregivers of the current collective reported a lower burden in the five subgroups disrupted schedule, lack of family support, self-esteem, health problems and financial problems, compared to the previous CRA studies with caregivers of patients with other diseases. The informal caregivers saw the greatest burden as the disruption of their schedule. Through a principal component analysis the five subgroups could be identified as five factors. It was shown that 19 out of the 24 items could be assigned to the same factors as in the original English version. The internal consistency of the five subgroups was acceptable except for the subscale on self-esteem.

CONCLUSION

In this study the CRA has been confirmed as a suitable instrument to assess both positive and negative reactions of informal caregivers related to caregiving of patients with nv-AMD. The results provide support for a five subscale structure of the CRA in the original English version but five items of the questionnaire could be assigned to another subscale.