A validation study of the Caregiver Mastery Scale for partners of patients with acquired brain injury

OBJECTIVE: To validate the Caregiver Mastery Scale for partners of patients with acquired brain injury.

DESIGN: The score distributions, internal consistency and convergent validity of the Caregiver Mastery Scale were determined.

SUBJECTS: A total of 92 partners (53% male, age 62 years) of patients with acquired brain injury (91% stroke) discharged from inpatient rehabilitation (time since injury 32 months).

MAIN MEASURES: Outcome measure: Caregiver Mastery Scale. Reference measures: Caregiver Strain Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and CarerQoL.

RESULTS: The Caregiver Mastery Scale has a normal distribution, with no floor or ceiling effects. Its internal consistency is acceptable (Cronbach's alpha: 0.75). The convergent validity analyses confirmed our hypothesis that higher scores on the Caregiver Mastery Scale correlate with less burden, lower levels of anxiety and depression and greater well-being. Furthermore, partners scoring high on the Caregiver Mastery Scale mostly scored below the clinical cut-off scores on the Caregiver Strain Index and the anxiety and depression subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, whereas partners scoring low on the Caregiver Mastery Scale were more likely to score above the cut-off points.

CONCLUSION: The Caregiver Mastery Scale is a valid instrument to assess the caregiver mastery of partners of patients with acquired brain injury.