title: Investigating burden of informal caregivers in England, Finland and Greece: an analysis with the short form of the Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC-s).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The burden of informal caregivers might show itself in different ways in different cultures. Understanding these differences is important for developing culture-specific measures aimed at alleviating caregiver burden. Hitherto, no findings regarding such cultural differences between different European countries were available. In this paper, differences between English, Finnish and Greek informal caregivers of people with dementia are investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  A secondary analysis was performed with data from 36 English, 42 Finnish and 46 Greek caregivers obtained with the short form of the Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC-s). The probabilities of endorsing the BSFC-s items were investigated by computing a logit model with items and countries as categorical factors. Statistically significant deviation of data from this model was taken as evidence for country-specific response patterns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two-factorial logit model explains the responses to the items quite well (McFadden's pseudo-R-square: 0.77). There are, however, also statistically significant deviations (p < 0.05). English caregivers have a stronger tendency to endorse items addressing impairments in individual well-being; Finnish caregivers have a stronger tendency to endorse items addressing the conflict between the demands resulting from care and demands resulting from the remaining social life and Greek caregivers have a stronger tendency to endorse items addressing impairments in physical health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caregiver burden shows itself differently in English, Finnish and Greek caregivers. Accordingly, measures for alleviating caregiver burden in these three countries should address different aspects of the caregivers' lives.
authors.affiliation: a Trimberg Research Academy , University of Bamberg , Bamberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6993-5977
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Konerding
authors.affiliation: b The Balance of Care Group , London , UK.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.affiliation: b The Balance of Care Group , London , UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forte
authors.affiliation: c Department of Health Economics , National School of Public Health , Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftheria
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karampli
authors.affiliation: d Department of Industrial Engineering and Management , Aalto University , Espoo , Finland.
authors.forename: Tomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Malmström
authors.affiliation: c Department of Health Economics , National School of Public Health , Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Elpida
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pavi
authors.affiliation: d Department of Industrial Engineering and Management , Aalto University , Espoo , Finland.
authors.forename: Paulus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torkki
authors.affiliation: e Centre of Health Services Research in Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg , Erlangen , Germany.
authors.forename: Elmar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Graessel
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012917:Social Adjustment
keywords: Dementia; caregiver burden; comparison between European countries; cultural differences; informal caregivers