Development and initial validation of a Parkinson's disease caregiver strain risk screen.

Background And Purpose: Family caregivers face potential strain in caring for persons with Parkinson's disease because of the unpredictability of symptom presentation. The Caregiver Strain Risk Screen (CSRS) was developed and tested for initial validation.

Methods: Instrument item development was guided by focus-group and interview data and a theoretical conceptualization of caregiver strain risk in caregivers of persons with Parkinson's disease. Caregivers of persons with Parkinson's disease (N = 217) provided data.

Results: Principal components analysis supported a 28-item instrument with 4 factors: self-preservation, nursing home consideration, coping through spirituality, and coping through formal support.

Conclusion: The 28-item CSRS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability in measuring the construct. Research using a new sample is underway to further psychometrically test and validate the CSRS through confirmatory factor analysis.