title: Burden and professional caregivers: tracking the impact.
abstract: The objective of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Professional Caregivers' Burden Index (PCBI), a new measure of burden for professionals who work with patients with Alzheimer's disease. In phase 1, content validity was examined; in phase 2, the 24-item instrument was administered to professional caregivers on specialty dementia care units at a long-term care facility in New England. In phase 3, mean staff PCBI scores were found to increase significantly at 3 and 9 months following a reduction of approximately 5% in staffing levels at a dementia care program. These initial data on the PCBI suggest that it may be used as a valid and reliable measure of burden among professional caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Nursing, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Ellen F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drebing
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D002055:Burnout, Professional; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing