TY - JOUR
T1 - Validation of the Italian Version of the Caregiver Abuse Screen among Family Caregivers of Older People with Alzheimer's Disease
AU - Melchiorre, Maria Gabriella
AU - Di Rosa, Mirko
AU - Barbabella, Francesco
AU - Barbini, Norma
AU - Lattanzio, Fabrizia
AU - Chiatti, Carlos
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Introduction. Elder abuse is often a hidden phenomenon and, in many cases, screening practices are difficult to implement among older people with dementia. The Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) is a useful tool which is administered to family caregivers for detecting their potential abusive behavior. Objectives. To validate the Italian version of the CASE tool in the context of family caregiving of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to identify risk factors for elder abuse in Italy. Methods. The CASE test was administered to 438 caregivers, recruited in the Up-Tech study. Validity and reliability were evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficients, principal-component analysis, and Cronbach's alphas. The association between the CASE and other variables potentially associated with elder abuse was also analyzed. Results. The factor analysis suggested the presence of a single factor, with a strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). CASE score was strongly correlated with well-known risk factors of abuse. At multivariate level, main factors associated with CASE total score were caregiver burden and AD-related behavioral disturbances. Conclusions. The Italian version of the CASE is a reliable and consistent screening tool for tackling the risk of being or becoming perpetrators of abuse by family caregivers of people with AD.
AB - Introduction. Elder abuse is often a hidden phenomenon and, in many cases, screening practices are difficult to implement among older people with dementia. The Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) is a useful tool which is administered to family caregivers for detecting their potential abusive behavior. Objectives. To validate the Italian version of the CASE tool in the context of family caregiving of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to identify risk factors for elder abuse in Italy. Methods. The CASE test was administered to 438 caregivers, recruited in the Up-Tech study. Validity and reliability were evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficients, principal-component analysis, and Cronbach's alphas. The association between the CASE and other variables potentially associated with elder abuse was also analyzed. Results. The factor analysis suggested the presence of a single factor, with a strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). CASE score was strongly correlated with well-known risk factors of abuse. At multivariate level, main factors associated with CASE total score were caregiver burden and AD-related behavioral disturbances. Conclusions. The Italian version of the CASE is a reliable and consistent screening tool for tackling the risk of being or becoming perpetrators of abuse by family caregivers of people with AD.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013345092&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2017/3458372
DO - 10.1155/2017/3458372
M3 - Article
C2 - 28265571
AN - SCOPUS:85013345092
SN - 2314-6133
VL - 2017
JO - BioMed Research International
JF - BioMed Research International
M1 - 3458372
ER -