Validity and Reliability of the SF-36 administered to Caregivers of Patients with Alzheimer‘s disease: Evidence from a South American sample

GERARDO MACHNICKI, RICARDO F ALLEGRI, CRISTINA G RANALLI, CECILIA M. SERRANO, CAROL DILLON AND FERNANDO E. TARAGANO

DEMENTIA AND GERIATRIC COGNITIVE DISORDERS

S. Karger AG.

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2009 vol. 28 p. 206 - 212

1420-8008

Caregiver of Alzheimer’s patients is associated with impaired health status and may reduce health related quality of life (HRQoL).  This paper evaluates the reliability and validity of the Argentinean version of the SF-36, a generic HRQoL instrument, in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods: Forty-eight caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients completed the SF-36, the Zarit questionnaire and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Patients were evaluated for dementia severity using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and for cognitive status (Mini Mental State Examination, MMSE).  Results: The SF-36 demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach s alphas 0.72-0.92). Correlations between the SF-36 and the Zarit were moderate (range: -0.19 to -0.79, all p<0.01 expect for physical function). Significant correlations between the SF-36 and the CDR, MMSE and NPI were lower (range: -0.30 to -0.4, p<0.001) and concentrated in the mental health components of the SF-36. The SF-36 demonstrated good factorial validity, as the factor loadings were above 0.7 for all scales except role emotional. Conclusions: The Argentinean version of the SF-36 demonstrated adequate reliability and concurrent, discriminative and factorial validity. It is reliable and valid for use in caregivers of patients with AD.