Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Burden Assessment Scale

Background: In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Burden Assessment Scale. Methods: The study was carried out on 100 volunteers who were caregivers of in-or outpatients at a university hospital, department of psychiatry. The diagnoses of the patients were schizophrenia (25%), bipolar disorder (22%), major depressive disorder (24%), and anxiety disorder (29%). The mean duration of the illness was 8.2 +/- 8.7 years. For the concurrent validity, the Perceived Family Burden Scale and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale were used. In the statistical analyses, internal consistency, item-total score correlation, explorative factor analysis, correlation with other scales were calculated. Results: The Turkish version of the Burden Assessment Scale was prepared after the translation and back-translation of the original scale and after the consensus on the translated form. In the internal consistency analysis, Cronbach alpha coefficient was found to be 0,894 and item-total score correlation coefficients were between 0.297 and 0.742. In the explorative factor analysis, a five-factor solution explaining 67.2% of the total variance was obtained and the conceptual themes of the factors were limitations in daily life, negative emotions, worry for the patient, losses of the caregiver, and disruption in activities. The correlation of the Burden Assessment Scale with the Perceived Family Burden Scale was r=0.485 and with the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale was r=0.610. Conclusion: It is demonstrated that the Turkish version of the Burden Assessment Scale which is convenient in the milder forms of psychiatric disorders and which is developed for the assessment burden of patients on their caregivers is reliable and valid. (Archives of Neuropsychiatry 2012; 49: 276-280)