title: The Italian version of the FAMCARE scale: a validation study.
abstract: Evaluation of the quality of care is a key element that healthcare providers now take into consideration to meet patients' needs, expectations, and values. The FAMCARE scale is one of the most important instruments available to assess the level of satisfaction about care received by patients and families. We describe the validation process used to develop an Italian version (IF) of the original FAMCARE scale for caregivers.
  
  
  
  The IF was prepared according to standard guidelines for translation and transcultural adaptation of self-reported measures. The scale was self-administered to 132 informal caregivers of patients with cancer treated with curative and/or palliative care in a hospice, outpatient, or inpatient setting for at least 1 month. The participant group was composed of spouses (47.73 %), children (31.82 %), siblings (3.03 %), or other relatives (17.42 %). All participants simultaneously completed the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) questionnaire to test the construct validity. Twenty-two percent of randomly chosen participants re-completed the test after 1 month to evaluate IF test-retest stability.
  
  
  
  The IF showed a strong reliability with internal consistency [α = 0.93, confidence intervals (CI) = 0.91-0.95] and test-retest stability (Pearson r = 0.38; Kendall's tau-b = 0,25; Spearman's rho =0.34). Factor analysis identified four factors capable of explaining the 63 % total variance which did not change after the Varimax normalized rotation. Notwithstanding the lack of correlation with the VAS component of the EQ-5D questionnaire, our results highlighted robust psychometric properties of the IF.
  
  
  
  IF is a valid translation of the FAMCARE scale and can be used to assess caregiver satisfaction within the Italian context of cancer palliative care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Rabih
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chattat
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ottoboni
authors.affiliation: Nursing Service, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Via Maroncelli 40, 47014, Meldola, Italy.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeneli
authors.affiliation: Psycho-Oncology Unit, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Via Maroncelli 40, 47014, Meldola, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Alejandra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Berardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Unit, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Via Maroncelli 40, 47014, Meldola, Italy. marcocesare.maltoni@irst.emr.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maltoni
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic
keywords: Cancer patients; Cancer services; Care satisfaction; Caregivers; FAMCARE scale validation; Self-reported instruments