[Development of the French Canadian version of the Montgomery Borgatta caregiver burden scale].

Assessing the burden linked to caring for the frail elderly is becoming an important issue in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to translate/validate the Montgomery Borgatta Caregiver Burden Scale into French for use in Canada. This easy-to-use questionnaire evaluates aspects of burden such as objective, subjective stress and subjective demand burden. The instrument underwent: 1) parallel translation/back-translation; 2) expert's committee review leading to an experimental version; 3) pre-test to ensure wording clarity; and 4) study of psychometric properties with bilingual subjects (n = 27) and French-speaking subjects (n = 18). Results suggest that convergence between the original and the French versions is satisfactory for two of the three sub-scales of the MBCBS (ICC 0.83 & 0.96). The test-retest stability coefficients are also very good (ICC of 0.92 & 0.91), as is internal consistency (0.90, 0.66). The objective burden sub-scale correlates moderately with a measure of functional autonomy (SMAF). Results for the subjective burden scale linked to demand are, however, inadequate. All in all, two of the three sub-scales of the French-Canadian version of the Montgomery Borgatta Caregiver Burden Scale demonstrate adequate psychometric properties, thereby favouring its use in geriatric rehabilitation.